LIBRARY 

No. 

GUAM AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION 



t 



THE COCO-NUT 




MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO 
DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




COCO-NUTS AT HOME. 
Photograph, Gilchrist. 



Frontispiece. 



THE COCO-NUT 




BY 

EDWIN BINGHAM COPELAND 

PROFESSOR OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY &M DEAN OF THE 
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF 
THE PHILIPPINES 




MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED 
ST. MAKTIN'S STKEET, LONDON 




.C77 



COPYRIGHT 



CONTENTS 



Introduction . 

Origin of the Coco-nut 



PAGE 

ix-xiv 
xiii 



CHAPTER I 

Physiology of the Coco-nut . . . . . .1-18 

The Root 1 

The Leaf . . . ... . . . 7 

CHAPTER II 

Climate and Soil 19-30 

Climate 19 

Soil . ' 25 

CHAPTER III 

Diseases and Pests ........ 31-107 

Constitutional Weakness and Diseases . . . 31 

Pests 32 

Fungus Pests 34 

Bud Rot 43 

Insect Enemies ' 63 

Miscellaneous Pests . . . . . .105 



CHAPTER IV 

Selection and Treatment of Seed . . . . 108-122 
Varieties of Coco-nuts . . . . .108 
Selection of Seed . . . . . . .116 

Germination of Seed 118 

v 



vi THE COCO-NUT 

CHAPTEE V 

PAGE 

Field Culture 123-169 

Preparation of Land 123 

Transplanting 130 

Cultivation of Young Groves 135 

Care of Adult Groves 144 

Fertilizers 150 

Harvest 164 

CHAPTEE VI 

Coco-nut Products 170-206 

Toddy 170 

. Coir 182 

Copra . . . 190 

Oil 201 

INDEX .207 



4 



ILLUSTKATIONS 






FACE PAGE 


Coco-nuts at home ........ 


Frontispiece 


Coco-nuts at Zamboanga, 160 years ago .... 


6 


Ideal coco-nut country ....... 


28 


Coco-nuts and rice paddy fields ..... 


28 


The black or rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, adults and pupa 64 


The red beetle, Rkynchophorus ferrugineus, adults and larva 


76 


The coco-nut scale, Aspidiotus destructor .... 


100 


Nuts hung up in pairs to germinate .... 


118 


Nuts stacked round a pole to germinate .... 


118 


Seed bed with yams in the background .... 


122 


Young tree ......... 


138 


An ill-kept grove ........ 


144 


Minor products in the Philippines ..... 


148 


Coco-nut tapped for toddy ...... 


170 


Grove devoted to toddy, La Laguna .... 


172 


Interior of distillery ....... 


174 


Coco-nut rafts at Pagsanjan ...... 


182 


Receiving yard at Magdalena and iron used for husking nuts 


186 


Tapahan, or copra-drying house, Philippines 


192 


Interior of Tapahan ....... 


194 


Magdalena copra drier ....... 


194 


Ipitan or oil-press ........ 


202 


Ilohan or rocking crusher, La Laguna .... 


202 


vii 





EEEATA 

Page xiii, line 21, read yautia instead of yantia. • 
,, 19, line 7, read diseases instead of disease. • 
,, 20, line 11, read where the instead of whose.' 
,, 54, line 5, read were instead of had. ■ 

,, 64, lines 5 and 6, delete Of these and begin sentence with The. • 
,, 65, line 11th from bottom, insert at before at. ■ 
,, 67, line 3, cut out first two letters.. 
,, 86, line 4, after cut insert out. . 
,, 107, line 15, read runways instead of runaways. *■ 
■,, 140, last line, read coco-nut instead of coco-nuts. 
,, 156, 2nd line of reading matter, read very dry instead of ordinary. 
,, 162, last line, insert and nitrogen after ash, and read amount instead of 
amounts. 

,, 191, 2nd line from bottom, read Kokosbutter instead of Kokosbutrer. - 

,, 192, 1st line, read Uebung instead of Ubung. • 

,, 195, 3rd line, read salable instead of soluble.- 

,, 198, 3rd line from bottom, read figures 65 instead of 35. ■ 

,, 201, line 14, read for each 100 hektares instead of for each hektare. - 

,, 204, line 12th from bottom, read bear instead of bears. 

, , 205, line 3rd from bottom, read presses instead of pressures. 

, , 207, and in the places referred to, note that Banahao and Banajao are the 
name of one mountain. The official spelling is Banajao, but Banahao 
is now more common. It should be spelled alike throughout. 



INTRODUCTION 

The preparation of this book began in 1907 and was 
expected to be finished in three years. Before the time 
at which it was to be finished, the College of Agriculture 
of the University of the Philippines was established, and 
I found myself giving a course of instruction on the 
coco-nut. This course and the proposed book covered 
the same ground and had the same end in view. Other 
work did not leave me time to get this into satisfactory 
shape for publication, and teaching the subject gave me 
an opportunity to test many of the supposed facts as 
well as to practise their presentation. I have now given 
the course to five classes. The knowledge of coco-nut 
physiology, which before rested entirely upon my work 
during one season at San Eamon, has been amplified 
and substantiated by the work of many students here. 
Every student in these classes has had the care of a 
small group of trees and has kept full records covering 
every step in coco -nut culture, from the preparation of 
the seed bed to the utilization of the product. When I 
express myself positively on matters of practice it is 
therefore on the basis of ample personal experience. 

The aim of this book and of the instruction in this 
college is to give the knowledge and advice which will 
qualify a person for the practice of coco-nut raising. 
There are two general methods which might be used for 
this purpose. One is to give rules which have been 
found good in practice ; the other is to give the under- 
standing on which such rules must rest. In the same 
way the chauffeur of an automobile might be qualified 

ix 



X 



THE COCO-NUT 



by being shown with care how the machine responds to 
the action of various wheels and levers, or he might be 
taught the principles on which his engine is built, and 
how these principles are applied in practice. If every- 
thing runs smoothly, the training by rule and example 
will be sufficient. But when things go wrong, it will 
leave him helpless. In the same way, and for the same 
reason, the coco-nut planter who has been given a good 
set of rules will be likely to succeed under the conditions 
to which the rules apply, but will not be qualified to 
meet changes in conditions. 

This book is written in the Philippines, and may 
seem to deal to an unreasonable extent with the coco- 
nut industry of these islands. However, I believe that 
aside from such purely local information as the cost of 
labour and supplies, and means of transportation as 
influencing the markets, it contains everything that a 
planter anywhere in the tropics has most need of know- 
ing. The behaviour of the coco-nut is intelligible in the 
light of the knowledge of its physiology, and surely in 
no other way ; and the physiology of the tree is the 
same the world over. The diseases of the coco -nut 
present a problem which is increasing very rapidly in 
importance, and to which I have accordingly given par- 
ticularly thorough treatment. In discussing the culti- 
vation of the coco-nut and the utilization of its products, 
I have constantly kept emphatically in view the fact 
that the subject is of interest only because of its 
business importance. Every detail in these matters 
should be put into practice only after mature considera- 
tion in the light of local conditions, and every decision 
as to practice must be a business decision. It is not 
anticipated that the planter or the student will be pro- 
vided with a business head. It is hoped and believed 
that the conditions and arguments which should be 
considered are suggested and discussed sufficiently to 
qualify each man to decide for himself, at each stage of 
the business, what he can do with the prospect of most 
complete success. 



INTRODUCTION 



xi 



Certain matters to which much space is often 
devoted in works of this kind have been omitted. One 
of these is the presentation of statistics on the coco-nut 
industry of different countries and on the commerce in 
coco-nut products. So far as I have been able to test 
them, the generally current statements as to this 
industry in different lands are unreliable to the point 
where they are almost valueless. For instance, several 
books contain a table prepared many years ago in 
Ceylon, showing the number of acres devoted to coco- 
nuts in different countries, and in this table the Philip- 
pines are grouped with Borneo and other great areas, 
and for the whole group the acreage given is not far 
from that in one of the provinces on the Island of Luzon. 
It would be a very difficult matter to prepare a reliable 
table of this kind, but I cannot see that it would be very 
useful to any coco-nut planter when prepared. It would 
be possible to compile comparatively reliable statistics 
as to coco-nut commerce. But in this case, again, the 
statistics would not be of much interest to the planter. 

Another omission which may be noted is the absence 
of estimates showing the cost of establishing coco-nut 
plantations and maintaining them, and the probable 
income and profit. Very many such estimates have 
been published. The best of these are more or less skil- 
ful guesses. In every such estimate, the cost of labour, 
whether expressed as such or not, is the principal item, 
and the only other items likely to compare with it, if 
the analysis of the expenditures is thorough, are land 
and supervision. The values of land and labour are so 
exceedingly different in different tropical countries, that 
no such estimate has other than a local value. How 
completely this is the case is illustrated by the fact 
that equally good labour varies in cost from province to 
province in the Philippines by fully 100 per cent. If 
the presentation of estimates could be trusted to show 
that the establishment of a coco-nut plantation in 
one country could be expected with confidence to pay 
better returns than one in another country, they would 



xii 



THE COCO-NUT 



indeed be very useful to prospective investors. But I 
do not believe that such estimates as have been 
published are qualified to serve this use. Moreover, 
the intending investor practically always has the place 
of investment determined by other considerations. 

Still another omission is the discussion at any con- 
siderable length of the use of coco - nut products. 
Beyond the reasonable limits of plantation industry I 
have not pursued the subject. 

In a business sense it is sufficient that coco -nut 
raising is profitable and that its future is safe. I know 
no other business which seems to me quite so certain as 
this one to continue for a term of decades to pay large 
profits at all times. The returns at present cannot be 
described as less than unreasonable. Yet the demand 
for good copra and good oil is so far beyond the supply 
that for a very long time to come it seems certain that 
prices will remain above those which would merely pay 
a good return on the cost of production. 

There are a number of other works on the coco-nut 
which should be mentioned here. Ferguson's All 
about the Coco- Nut, which for years had the field to 
itself, is a compilation of papers published in the 
Tropical Agriculturist, dealing very largely with Ceylon 
conditions, and written in considerable part by planters 
of experience. Prudhomme's Le Cocotier is the most 
pretentious work which has appeared on the subject. It 
is particularly thorough in its treatment of the industry 
in Ceylon and in its application to Madagascar. It is 
beautifully illustrated, and very valuable to those who 
read French. Smith's Coco-Nuts, The Consols of the 
East, contains the most complete and recent compila- 
tion of the statistics on the subject, and in its enthusi- 
astic treatment gives the best expression to the business 
opportunities which the coco-nut offers. Die Kokos- 
palrae und ihre Jcultur, by Preuss, which was intended 
to be part of a new edition of Semler's great work on 
Tropical Agriculture, more than maintains the Sender 
standard. To those who read German it cannot be too 



INTRODUCTION 



xiii 



strongly recommended. Andes' Kokosbutter describes 
methods of making the food products which are largely 
responsible for the great recent increase in the demand 
for the better grades of copra and coco-nut oil. 

In statements as to money I have, as a rule, made 
use of local terms, and the same is true with regard to 
measures of various kinds. The more frequent use of 
the metric than of English standards will probably 
confuse nobody. English, American, and French money 
are likewise generally familiar. The Philippine peso 
of one hundred centavos is half of the American dollar. 

There are botanical grounds, so strong that no 
doubt should remain on the subject, for the belief that 
the coco -nut palm was a native of the American 
tropics. 1 In prehistoric times it did not occupy all the 
available parts of this region, its introduction into the 
Greater Antilles, for instance, where its cultivation is 
now an important industry, having been accomplished 
by the Spaniards. The American aborigines had many 
cultivated food plants, such as cassava, potato, sweet 
potato, yams, ya$tia, taro, and maize, and the coco-nut 
was far from being one of the most important of 
them. 

The coco-nut was introduced into Polynesia a very 
long time ago ; long in a merely human sense, however, 
for it is highly probable that its introduction was the 
act of man, and that it was a deliberate contribution to 
the resources of the Island World. Here it became 
the crop of first importance. It made life easy on islets 
which without it must have been quite uninhabitable. 
Polynesia had little vegetable wealth, and the coco-nut 
supplied a folk poor in crops with food, drink, fuel, 
shelter, and sometimes clothing, and served a host of 
minor uses. In these days of commerce, it is the chief 
export of this region. Its culture naturally spread. 
Originating in America, it must have been carried west- 
ward across the Pacific ; and there is good linguistic 
evidence that its spread was in this direction. With 

1 Cook, The Origin and Distribution of the Cocoa Palm, 1901. 



XIV 



THE COCO-NUT 



its hundred and more uses, it naturally has a large 
place in the languages of the people of the sea. 

From Polynesia it reached New Guinea and Malaya, 
but not Australia. There are quasi-historic accounts of 
its introduction into Ceylon. Its more recent intro- 
duction to practically all tropical coasts has been, for 
commercial purposes, important indeed to the various 
lands but offering nothing of general interest. 



CHAPTEE I 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 

The Root. — As is true of all field crops, and of 
plants in general, the roots of the coco-nut serve the 
plant in two ways : by anchoring the plant in its 
place so firmly that no ordinary storm can displace it ; 
and by taking up, from the soil, water and the mineral 
food which is dissolved in the water. 

The evergreens and broad-leaved trees of temperate 
lands have each a taproot or a few stout main roots, 
which are firmly embedded in the soil, and on the other 
side immovably connected with the stem, which they 
hold erect by their own rigidity. The coco-nut has no 
taproot, and nothing like the main roots of ordinary 
trees. The enlarged base or bole of the coco-nut trunk 
is convex or conical at the lower end, and is usually 
buried for a depth of not more than 50 centimetres ; 
the base of the bole is sometimes flattened, and not 
more than 15 centimetres deep even when the tree is 
grown. Its surface underground, and often for some 
distance above the ground, is practically covered with 
the bases of the roots. These roots are remarkably 
uniform, 0*8 to 1*0 centimetre in diameter in adult 
trees. They radiate from the tree on all sides, and are 
strongly disposed to keep the direction in which they 
start. A normal length for the roots of mature trees 
is 5 metres in firm soil, and 7 metres in sand. 
In poor or shallow soil they are longer, the longest 
reaching a length cf 8 to 10 metres. The lateral 

B 



2 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



branches of these roots may grow upward, downward, 
or horizontally, but at nearly a right angle from the 
parent root. 

The old main roots of the coco-nut, like all other 
woody parts of the plant, are remarkable for both 
elasticity and tensile strength. Inside the proper wood, 
which is itself strongly developed, is a "pith" whose 
walls are also very thick and woody. This makes each 
root a very stout cord. Eighty centimetres is not a 
very exceptional diameter for a well-grown bole, though 
a majority of them are somewhat smaller. The buried 
part of a stem of this size will afford attachment for 
nearly 8000 bases of roots, each 1 centimetre in 
diameter ; an actual count usually shows 4000 to 7000. 
These main roots may have few or no large branches, or 
may have ten to twenty, which rarely reach a length 
of 1 metre, or a diameter of 4 millimetres. The 
main roots and these major branches bear numerous 
fine branches, 1 to 2 millimetres in diameter. These 
may be the ultimate division ; or they in turn may 
bear finer branches, at most a very few centimetres 
long, and about half a millimetre thick ; the life of 
these finest roots is transitory, like that of root-hairs. 
A less ample system of roots is formed in sand than in 
firmer ground. 

All the roots of the coco-nut have a rigid shell, 
called a hypodermis, which makes the finer roots rigid 
in a measure not approached by such small roots of 
other trees. In proportion to its size, a small root is 
held by the soil more firmly than a larger one. Because 
they are firmly fixed in their places, and are rigid, and 
stand at right angles to the main roots, it is practically 
impossible to move the branches by any pull on the 
main roots. And since the root can therefore not be 
drawn out of the ground, and can be subjected only to 
a direct pull, and has great tensile strength, the coco- 
nut's system of anchorage is a very perfect one. The 
tree's natural habitat is the sea-shore, where it receives 
the unbroken force of the fiercest storms ; but unless 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 3 



the roots have previously been killed, or undermined 
by waves, no coco-nut is unrooted. 

When parts of old roots die, they are replaced from 
the same roots. From the axial strand of the end of 
the living part one or two stout roots start to grow. Not 
at first being able to break the hypodermal shell, these 
are forced to grow in the same direction as the parent 
root, whose place in the anchorage of the plant they 
therefore take. 

The direction of the main roots is more or less hori- 
zontal, none of them going to any great depth. Some, 
but not many, roots descend more than a metre below 
the surface ; most of them are usually found at a depth 
of between 15 and 45 centimetres. This of course 
depends a great deal upon conditions. 

The number of roots found in successive horizontal 
layers 5 cm. (about 2 inches) thick, beginning at the 
surface, is shown in the following table. The observa- 
tion is made by digging a circular trench part of the 
way round the tree, 1 metre from the outside of its 
base, and counting the roots cut. 




[Table 



4 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Layer. 


Tree 
No. 1. 


Tree 
No. 2. 


Tree 
No. 3. 


Tree 
No. 4. 


Tree No. 5. 

( 3 Tn fTnTn 

y tJ J 11. 11 L/X1I 

middle of tree. ) 


1 


LA 


K 










1 < 


A 


7 


1 A 

14 


7 


15 


oo 


6 





n 



Q 

6 


lo 


vA 


A 
4 


1 A 

14: 


Q 

o 


Q 
O 


14 


/ O 





A 
4 


pr 




A 

4 


/? 

D 


no 
AO 


6 


A 

4 


A 

4 


o 
O 


12 


Q Q 
OO 


7 


iy 


A 

4 


O 

O 


o 




LA 


o 
O 


rt 






r> 
D 


o 
O 





y 


9 


A 



/» 
D 


c 




1 


1 A 


A 







5 


o 


Q 
O 


1 1 


A 






Q 
O 


1 


1 


1 A 


A 



A 



6 


n 


A 



lo 


A 






A 

4 








14 






O 




1 




15 






5 


1 




16 






4 







17 






5 







18 






2 


1 




19 






2 







20 














and deeper 













Of these trees, No. 2 grew in soil with a very compact 
stony subsoil below 35 cm., and No. 3 in soil without 
stone to a depth of 120 cm. The number of roots 
calculated for the entire circumference of the tree, at 
the distance at which the trench was dug, ranged from 
592 (No. 1) to 2464 (No. 5). Very many counts of 
this kind have been made at the College of Agriculture. 

No roots will grow to any distance into water, nor 
into a level of the soil where free water stands ; and a 
rise in the water-level ultimately kills the submerged 
roots. Neither can they grow in very dry soil ; a few 
centimetres of the surface is in most places dry so 
much of the time that roots cannot grow into it. 
Sand is drier than heavy soil, and the roots accordingly 
maintain a deeper level in it. The best conditions are 
obviously those which permit the growth of the most 
ample root system. So the soil should be deep, and 



i PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 5 

with a deep water table, and the surface should not be 
too dry. The surface should be cultivated, to prevent 
deep drying ; but it must not be cultivated deeply 
enough to destroy many roots, or to keep them from 
occupying a level as near the surface as will let them 
find a reasonable amount of water. 

Before the absorption of water is taken up, a little 
more should be said about the structure of the roots. 
The tip of each root is protected by a thimble-shaped 
structure called the root-cap, which saves the growing 
point from injury as- it is pushed through the soil. 
The length of the cap is somewhat greater than the 
diameter of the root. The young part of the root 
immediately behind the cap is covered by a very 
delicate epidermis ; it is through this that the root 
absorbs water and the mineral food dissolved in the 
water. The coco-nut has no root-hairs. 

The hypodermis has already been mentioned. It 
is formed from a layer several cells thick, just inside 
the epidermis. The cells are very small, and at first 
have very thin walls. They afterwards thicken, and 
soon become so thick and hard that water cannot pass 
through them. Only the short zone between the root- 
cap and the place where the walls of the hypodermis 
thicken can absorb water. The larger the root, the 
longer this zone is likely to be. In very active 
roots it is 5 centimetres from the tip back to the 
beginning of the hypodermis. In less active but by 
no means inert roots, 7\ millimetres in diameter, this 
distance may be only 2 centimetres. When the growth 
of the roots is checked by dryness, or by any other 
unfavourable condition of the soil, the hypodermis is 
formed closer and closer to the tip, finally even under 
the back part of the cap, leaving no actively absorbing 
zone at all. 

Altogether, with its short absorbing region and the 
absence of root-hairs, and even of really fine roots, the 
coco - nut must be said to have a root system ill 
adapted to the absorption of large quantities of water. 



6 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



But its structure enables it to endure saltiness and 
dryness which would be fatal to most other plants. 
Beach soil usually contains no salt, except in such 
minute quantities as chemical analysis will detect in all 
soils ; but it sometimes happens as a result of storms 
that the beach is temporarily filled with sea -water. 
This would kill any plant with ordinary roots, but does 
the coco-nut practically no harm at all. 

The same structures enable the coco-nut to withstand 
drought, not without temporary injury, but without 
being killed. When any layer of the soil becomes dry 
enough to injure coco-nut roots in any way, its first 
effect is to check the growth in length. The hypodermis 
then approaches closer and closer to the tip, until, if 
the dryness is severe enough, it reaches the root-cap. 
In this condition the root is valueless as an absorbing 
organ; — which does the tree no harm, because an 
active root could absorb no water from the soil dry 
enough to cause this condition. When the soil becomes 
wet again, the roots gradually revive, the cap grows 
away from the hypodermis, and absorption begins anew. 
If all the roots ceased to absorb water, the tree would 
of course be killed, but this cannot happen in any 
place where coco -nuts ought to be planted. Where 
coco-nuts become inactive, roots better fitted to absorb 
water would be killed. 

The numerous little, white, eventually sharp and 
hard outgrowths scattered along the old coco-nut roots 
are specialized roots which serve as breathing organs. 
It is as impossible for air as for water to pass through 
the hypodermis ; and the internal tissues of old roots 
would die for want of air, if they were not supplied 
with it by these breathing organs. 

It has already been remarked that the coco-nut 
roots have a limited absorbing surface. Even the 
limited area which looks capable of absorbing actively 
is sometimes really very inactive. Dead roots will for 
some time absorb as rapidly as when they are alive ; 
but if a living root is cut, the end is promptly closed by 




COCO-NUTS AT ZAMBOANGA, 160 YEARS AGO. 
Photograph by Shaw of Sonnerat's cut. 



To face page 6. 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 7 



a gummy substance, and no more water is taken up by 
it. Experiments show that, as was presumed from the 
structure, coco-nut roots are not injured by moderately 
strong solutions of common salts. More than this, 
they absorb such solutions freely. They will absorb a 
solution one hundred times as concentrated as ordinary 
soil water about as rapidly as they do pure water. In 
fair weather, they absorb most rapidly in the afternoon, 
less so in the forenoon, and very slowly at night, the 
most rapid absorption following closely the time of 
most rapid evaporation from the leaves. This indicates 
that the tree does not store up any considerable amount 
of available water. And from this it follows that any- 
thing which interferes with the evaporation from the 
leaves immediately checks the absorption of water and 
of mineral food by the roots. 

In proportion to the area of apparently absorbing 
surface, the finer roots take up more water than the 
larger ones. A calculation based on the measured 
activity of the main roots would show that an entire 
tree takes up at most 24 litres in a day ; but 
we know from determination of evaporation from the 
leaves that this figure is too low. It is likely that such 
measurements of the growth as have been made likewise 
fail to show how rapid it can be. The most rapid 
growth that I was able to measure at San Eamon for 
a period of a few days amounts to only about a metre 
a year ; and measurements extending over a month or 
more showed only half of this rate. More recent 
measurements in La Laguna on eleven roots showed an 
average growth of 3*02 millimetres a day, or somewhat 
more than a metre a year. 

The Leaf. — The water taken up by the epidermal 
cells of the root moves inward from cell to cell, into 
the vessels of the axial strand. In these vessels, it 
moves upward through the roots and trunk, to the 
leaves, and along the midribs and veins and veinlets of 
the leaflets. Finally, it moves outward again toward 
the epidermis, and is evaporated. As the water 



8 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



evaporating from a tea-kettle leaves behind it the salts 
it held in solution, forming a shell on the inside of the 
kettle ; and as the water flowing in through the rivers 
has evaporated and left the ocean salt; so the water 
which evaporates from the coco-nut leaves behind it 
what it held in solution, and this residue makes up the 
whole of the mineral and nitrogenous food of the tree. 
The more water is boiled in the kettle, the more residue is - 
left ; and the more water evaporates from the leaves, the 
more mineral and nitrogenous food remains for the plants. 
Men cultivate the soil and thereby directly and indirectly 
increase the amount of food the plant can get from it. 
This costs money. They buy fertilizers and apply 
them to the soil. This also costs money. Exactly the 
same end can often be secured with little or no expense 
by increasing the evaporation from the leaves ; which 
gives the subject a very evident practical importance. 

The evaporation of water from plants is called trans- 
piration. It takes place in part directly through the 
outer walls of the epidermis, but chiefly through small 
openings in the epidermis called stomata. The stomata 
of the coco-nut are entirely confined to the nether sur- 
faces of the leaves. At least 98 per cent of the water 
transpired is given off from this surface. The stomata 
open to their full width in the day-time, in full sunshine, 
provided that the tree is well supplied with water. If 
the tree is not thus well supplied, the openings narrow 
as the water in the leaves decreases, and so check the 
transpiration. They are closed at night. The trans- 
piration will be most active if the roots can take up 
water and supply it to the leaves as fast as it is 
evaporated, and the stomata thus be kept wide open 
throughout the day. 

Besides the stomata, the coco -nut has another 
structure which regulates the transpiration, but less 
perfectly. This is a strand of tissues running along 
each side of the midrib, on the under side of the pinna, 
and acting as a hinge. The pinna is thinnest along 
these lines. The cells of the hinge are colourless and 



i PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 9 



thin-walled. When the leaflet is well stored with water, 
the cells of the hinge are turgid, swollen up as large as 
possible ; each hinge then raises its half of the pinna, 
making the whole leaflet as wide as it can be. When 
the amount of water in the leaf is decreased, the cells of 
the hinge are quick to feel the loss, and with any loss 
of water their size decreases. This results in a lowering 
of each side of the pinna, making the whole pinna 
narrower, and so lessening the exposure to the sun. 
The transpiration will be greatest if the tree is at all 
times so well supplied with water that the hinges do 
not let the sides of the pinna lower. 

The transpiration is made active by light, warmth, 
dryness of the air, and wind. It is hindered by dark- 
ness, cold, and moistness and stillness of the air. The 
most important of the factors influencing the transpira- 
tion is light. A light haze across the sun — too light 
to be called a cloud — will immediately reduce the trans- 
piration by one-third or one-half. A cloud heavy enough 
to conceal the sun will promptly cut it down to about 
one-quarter of what it is in direct sunshine. All shade 
has, of course, the same effect, and it makes no difference 
whether it comes from a cloud, or a mountain, or some 
shade tree, or another coco-nut planted too near. Every 
leaf or part of a leaf which is in the shade has its 
transpiration cut down to a quarter of what it might 
be, and therefore gets only a quarter of the food it 
might get dissolved in the water. 

During the whole night the whole transpiration is 
not one-tenth as much as during one hour of full sun- 
shine. Diffuse light increases the transpiration chiefly 
by causing the stomata to open. The great added action 
of direct light is chiefly due to the heating of the leaf. 
The following table gives the temperatures observed 
during one day, the first column giving the temperature 
in the shade ; the second, the temperature in direct sun- 
shine ; and the third, the temperature shown by a 
thermometer placed near the second, but with a coco- 
nut leaflet tied around its bulb. 



10 THE COCO-NUT 



TEMPERATURE (c.) 



Hour. 


In Shade. 


In Sun. 


In Leaf. 


7 A.M. 


20-3 


21-8 


21-9 


8 „ 


24-3 


25-2 


27-4 


9 „ 


26 


30-7 


33-1 


10 „ 


26-9 


32 


35-4 


11 „ ' 


27-8 


31-5 


34-7 








(light cloud) 


12 M. 


28*3 


34-7 


37-7 


1 P.M. 


28 


30 


31-5 








(cloudy) 


2 „ 


28-5 


31-5 


38 


3 „ 


28-8 


31 


36-7 


4 „ 


28-6 


30-6 


36-4 


5 „ 


27-7 


30 


34 


6 „ 


26-6 


27-6 


28-5 



With conditions as they were on this day, a surface 
of water at the temperature of the leaf in the sun at 
noon would evaporate about three times as much as 
a surface at the shade temperature. The increase in the 
evaporation from a leaf is greater still, provided that as 
transpiration goes on the supply of water is kept up. 

If we now take up the actual rate of evaporation of 
the water from the leaves, we find that beginning early 
in the morning there is practically none. The tempera- 
ture is low, the air is moist and usually still, and the 
stomata are at first closed. Under the influence of the 
light the stomata open, the air warms enough so as to 
no longer be saturated with moisture, and the transpira- 
tion gradually increases. This increase goes on for 
several hours. If it were possible for the roots to take 
up water and furnish it to the leaves as fast as it could 
be evaporated, there would be a steady increase in 
transpiration up to 1 o'clock or possibly later, as up to 
this time the factors which promote it usually operate 
with more and more intensity. But against this steady 
increase in the transpiration there operates the fact that 



i PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 11 

the roots cannot take up the water nor the stems 
transmit it as fast as it evaporates under most favourable 
conditions from the leaves. Accordingly, the sides of 
the leaflet begin early in the day to be lowered by the 
hinges, and the width of the leaflet from edge to edge 
may be decreased as shown by this table : 



Leaf. 


December 7. 


7 A.M. 


8 A.M. 


9 A.M. 


10 A.M. 


11 A.M. 


12 m. 


1 P.M. 


A 
B 


mm. 
20-3 
25 


mm. 
20-3 
25 


mm. 

17-5 
21 


mm. 
15 
20 


mm. 
13 
18 


mm. 
12-5 
17 


mm. 
12-5 
16-5 


Leaf. 


December 7. 


December 8. 


2 P.M. 


3-30 p.m. 


5-10 p.m. 


6-30 a.m. 


7-30 a.m. 


8-30 a.m. 


A 
B 


13 
16 


13 
17-5 


17 
21-5 


20-3 
25 


20-3 

25 


20 
23 


Leaf. 


December 8. 


Dec. 9. 


9'30 a.m. 


10-30 A.M. 


12 M. 


1 P.M. 


2 P.M. 


4 P.M. 


5 P.M. 


6-30 a.m. 


A 
B 


16-5 
21 


13-5 
18-5 


12 
16 


13 
16-5 


12-5 
15 


13-5 
17 


16-5 
21 


20*5 
25 



What this dropping of the sides of the leaf really 
measures is a decrease in the amount of water in the 
leaf below the amount necessary for the most active 
transpiration ; in other words, it measures, the leafs 
want of water. And what actually regulates the amount 
which will evaporate from the leaves on days of brightest 
sunshine and greatest dryness of the air is the amount 
of water which can reach the leaves. At the same time, 
this factor is by no means the only one which regulates 
transpiration, even on such days ; for the leaf can draw 
on the supply stored in itself and in the stems, and so 
create a moderate deficit which will be made up during 



12 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the night while transpiration is most inactive. And the 
greater this deficit the more water the roots will take 
up during the night. 

As the afternoon advances, the transpiration decreases, 
and late in the afternoon falls to the point where water 
does not evaporate as fast as it comes to the leaves, and 
the leaflets begin to widen ; so that the width by dark 
is about as great as it was in the morning, which 
indicates that the leaf has made up whatever shortage 
of water it underwent during the day. 

By a rather complicated series of measurements the 
following determinations were made, showing the amount 
of water which evaporates in grams from one leaflet 
during the hours of one day. 



Hour ending at Grams. 

7- 30 a.m. . . . 0-03 

8- 30 „ 0-14 

9- 30 „ 0-10 

10- 30 „ 0-23 

11- 30 „ . . . 0-96 

12- 30 p.m. . . . 0-81 

1- 30 „ 3-02 

2- 30 „ 1-19 

3- 30 . . . 1-78 

4- 30 „ 1-53 

5- 30 „ 0-91 
Night .... 0-10 



Total . 10-81 1 
1 For one pinna and one day. 

The total water evaporated from this leaflet during 
the day was 10 '8 grams. If we allow 150 leaflets to 
the leaf and 25 leaves to a tree, the calculated 
transpiration for the whole tree will be 40,500 grams, 
or 40*5 litres. Estimates based on observations made 
in this way range from 28 to 45 litres. In this case, 
the leaflets whose transpiration was being measured 
took their turns in the shade and in the sunshine, as 
the shade of other leaves fell upon them during the 
day ; that is, they were under practically natural con- 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 13 



ditions. Observations made by a different method, 
which was calculated to show at each time the trans- 
piration in full sunshine, gave figures from which the 
calculated daily loss of water from the whole tree is 75 
litres. If we use the lowest figure based on a full set 
of observations, that is, 28 litres a day, the annual 
transpiration would be 10,220 litres. 

In this water the plant takes up the mineral food 
to be used in its permanent growth, and enough in 
addition to cover the annual loss in the nuts and in 
the leaves which are cast. The amount of mineral food 
permanently bound up in the growth of the stem and 
roots cannot be very considerable, and that in the roots 
which die is already in a place where it can be absorbed 
again. The average dry weight of a fallen leaf may be 
put roughly at 3 kilograms, of which 8*5 per cent is 
ash and nitrogen. Allowing a fall of sixteen leaves 
per annum, the loss of matter taken up in solution by 
the roots is 4080 grams. In each nut the tree loses 
ash as follows : 

Grams. 

In the husk . . . 33 '84 
In the shell . . . 3*36 
In the copra . . . 13 - 83 
In the milk . . . 5*97 

57-00 

If the tree produces but twenty nuts per annum, 
the loss of mineral matter in these is 1140 grams, and 
the total loss in leaves and nuts 5220 grams. If this 
were absorbed in 10,220 litres of water, as already 
calculated, the concentration of the solution taken up 
by the roots would be 0*051 per cent. This is con- 
siderably above the average concentration to be found 
in ground water, as - determined by analyses of water 
in wells and springs ; but the water which roots absorb 
from any but the wettest soil, being in immediate 
contact with the soil particles, is sure to be more 
concentrated than that which would run freely from 



14 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



wetter ground. It is also true that from very dilute 
solutions roots will absorb the dissolved salts in a pro- 
portion greater than that in which they are present 
in the water. The estimates which have just been 
given are based on work at San Eamon in Mindanao, 
on a variety which produces remarkably large nuts. 
The number of nuts per annum on which this estimate 
is based is too low, but the loss of mineral food in each 
nut is greater than would be found to be the case 
almost anywhere else in the world. 

Definite statistics, so far as they are available, on 
the influence of outside conditions on the rate of trans- 
piration are of great interest. It has already been 
pointed out that the lightest haze obscuring the sun- 
light has a marked effect in cutting down the 
transpiration. In real shade, such as is produced by 
heavier clouds, or by foliage between the coco-nut leaves 
and sun, the transpiration will be cut to sometimes as 
low as ^ of what it would be in full sunshine. How 
great this decrease is depends, of course, on the intensity 
and duration of the shade in question. 

The wind makes a difference in the transpiration of 
all leaves, but makes a much greater one when the 
leaves are in full sunshine. Thus in direct sunshine a 
breeze estimated at five miles an hour made the trans- 
piration four times as great as it was in still air. But 
in the shade the wind of this velocity did not add more 
than 50 per cent to the rate at which the leaves lost 
water. 

Aside from the difference in transpiration due to 
varying outside conditions, the rate at which the leaf 
will transpire varies with its age. When the leaf has 
just expanded, its protective structures are not as thick 
as they afterwards become, and for several months after 
this time there is a gradual decrease in the rate of 
transpiration. In old leaves, on the other hand — that 
is, in leaves from eight months after expansion up to 
the time they fall — the rate of transpiration increases, 
so that in leaves a year or more old it is considerably 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 15 



more active than it is in leaves which have just reached 
their full size. In time of very severe drought these 
older leaves fall off with unusual rapidity, and since 
these older leaves are the ones which would lose most 
water, the tree manages to cut down its loss in this 
way to a very considerable extent. 

It is of course not to be understood that transpira- 
tion is the only function of the leaves, nor even that 
it is the most important work which they perform. 
The leaves are the laboratories or kitchens in which the 
food of the whole plant is prepared. It is in the leaves 
and here only that starch or sugar is formed, and from 
this starch or sugar the whole structure of the tree is 
built up ; and from this starch and sugar, again, is 
made all of the oil in the nuts. Light is absolutely 
indispensable for this assimilative work in the leaves, 
and the rate at which this work goes on is in general 
nearly proportional to the amount of direct sunlight 
which the leaves receive. For the sake of the plant's 
organic food, then, even more than for the sake of its 
mineral food, it is necessary that the coco-nut leaves 
receive as much sunlight as can possibly be obtained. 
A full appreciation of this fact is the necessary basis 
of any understanding of the serious effect which an 
improper choice of locality, or too close placing of the 
trees in planting, or poor judgment in preventing the 
shading of the trees at any age, will have upon the 
success of any coco-nut plantation. 

Growth of Leaf. — During the past four years I 
have had made by students in the Philippine College 
of Agriculture a very extensive set of determinations 
of the rate of growth of coco-nut leaves. The total 
number of determinations of this kind to date is 
between ninety and one hundred thousand. The work 
is extended to give each student thorough first-hand 
knowledge of the rate at which the leaves of the coco-nuts 
may be expected to grow, of the influence of treatment, 
weather conditions, etc., upon the rate of growth, to 
qualify him to determine, by measurements of the rate 



16 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



of growth, the condition of coco-nut trees, or plantations, 
and their probable future production, and to give him 
such technical expertness that he can make these 
determinations rapidly and accurately. The trees at 
the College of Agriculture are on land which is not well 
adapted to this crop. The soil is shallow and heavy, 
and there is not at all times a proper supply of ground 
water. Moreover, the trees were largely infested by 
beetles when the land was purchased and such trees 
never grow as rapidly as healthy ones would grow. 
Some of the trees were about ready to come into bearing 
when the land was bought, but others were so young 
that they have not yet come to maturity. The average 
of all the determinations which have been made here 
would therefore not be a fair figure as an indication of 
what ought to be expected from coco-nuts. In one of 
the groves which is best situated and in which the sound 
trees are now in bearing, there are groups of trees in 
which the average growth of the youngest visible leaf 
is more than 4 centimetres a day. I believe that this 
figure may be taken as what ought to be expected of 
any coco-nuts on a tolerably well situated and managed 
estate. 

Keally good conditions or management will give 
higher figures than this. Thus, the nine trees observed 
by one student for the week ending November 25, 1911, 
snowed the following growth in millimetres : 324, 399, 
390, 427, 336, 345, 338, 375, 415. Tree No. 4, to 
choose one at random, showed the following growth at 
weekly intervals from August 24, 1911, to February 
28, 1912: 316, 319, 217, 293, 395, 391, 462, 444, 
422, 427, 403, 406, 798 (two weeks), 387, 367, 360, 
349, 357, 347, 349, 351, 352, 365, 382, 384, 383, 382. 

Young trees grow considerably more slowly than do 
adult trees. There is a progressive increase in the rate 
of growth from the time that young trees are first well 
established in their permanent places, at least up to the 
time that they come into full fruit. It is probable that 
the average rate in a grove continues to increase beyond 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE COCO-NUT 17 



this time, but on this point there are no observations. 
There are likewise no determinations of the rate of 
growth of the leaves of very old trees, but there is no 
doubt that such leaves grow more slowly. On shallow 
and therefore dry soil, the growth is constantly less 
rapid than where the soil is deeper and moister. 
We have patches of trees in which the average rate 
of growth is not more than 25 millimetres a day. 
Such trees come into bearing several years later than 
do trees 50 metres away on lower and deeper ground. 

There is a natural and very evident relation between 
the rate of growth of the leaves and the amount of 
production of fruit. The rate of growth can be deter- 
mined for most purposes within a few days so as to 
get an average for groves of considerable size. To get 
positive and reliable information as to the rate of 
production requires observations extending over many 
months. The easiest way in which one can secure 
reliable information as to the condition of a grove is 
therefore by determination of the rate of growth. This 
can be done in several different ways. The method 
which has proved most satisfactory is by drawing 
marks with Indian ink across the bases of the youngest 
and next youngest leaf, making one mark, half of which 
is on each leaf The difference in height of the two 
halves of this mark, after one day or one week, shows 
the difference in rate of growth of the two leaves. A 
similar mark is placed on the base of the next to the 
youngest leaf, called No. 2, and the third youngest, 
called No. 3. The break in this mark after a day or 
a week shows the difference in growth between these 
two leaves. Similarly, the difference between the 
growth of leaf No. 3 and leaf No. 4, of leaf No. 4 
and leaf No. 5, and of leaf No. 5 and leaf No. 6, are 
determined. The lowest mark, which remains unbroken, 
will be on the two youngest leaves which have ceased 
to grow. The sum of the observed breaks in the marks 
is the growth of the youngest leaf for the period in 
question. 

c 



18 



THE COCO-NUT 



On active trees at least four leaves ought always 
to show growth. It is common for five leaves to grow, 
but rare for six leaves to do so at the same time. 
The youngest two leaves frequently grow at the same 
rate. Successive older ones grow progressively more 
slowly, so that the oldest one which grows at all grows 
very slowly indeed. Growth is always more rapid 
during the night than during the day. The difference 
between night and day is much more marked in un- 
suitably dry weather than it is when the trees are well 
supplied with water. The effect of drought is likewise 
greater on young trees than on adult ones, and the 
difference between night and day is greater in younger 
trees when they are unduly dry than it is in older trees. 
Extreme drought brings a practical cessation of the 
growth of young seedlings. 



CHAPTER II 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 

The man who will establish a coco-nut plantation will, 
in selecting the location, take into consideration climate, 
soil, danger from diseases, quantity and quality of labour, 
the accessibility of supplies and markets, and the cost 
of the land. Labour supply, value of land, and markets 
are purely local questions, which must be settled in 
each place for itself. The diseaseSof the coco-nuts will 
be taken up in a separate chapter. With regard to the 
climate and soil, practically everything of fundamental 
importance follows directly from what has already been 
said with regard to the physiology of the coco-nut. 

THE CLIMATE 

Climate is made up of various factors, as tempera- 
ture, moisture, wind, light, and electricity. With regard 
to electricity I can only quote Vanderstraaten, 1 who 
says : " It has been generally noticed that a highly 
electric condition of the atmosphere is extremely 
favourable (to the production of blossom), but here 
our knowledge ends." It is a matter of general 
observation that trees struck by lightning will die. 
And it is a widespread superstition in the Philippines 
that unless such trees are promptly cut down their 
neighbours also will die, but that if the tree which has 
been struck is immediately cut down, then it will be 

1 Tropical Agriculturist, 32 (1909), 28. 
19 



20 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the only tree that suffers. The explanation is probably 
that a tree struck by lightning becomes a breeding- 
place for infection, and unless it is removed insects 
will breed in this tree and then attack its neighbours, 
and in this way they too are killed. 

The light is a very important factor in the climate 
because it furnishes the energy for the formation of the 
organic food of plants. If other conditions are favour- 
able the coco-nut tree cannot receive too much light. 
It therefore will not produce good crops in any place 
whose climate is characterized by prevailing cloudiness. 
For the same reason individual trees which are shaded 
by other trees by being planted too close together, or 
in any other way, will never be vigorous. Light also 
increases the temperature of the leaves, and in that way 
is favourable to the activity of the tree. 

On the temperature the coco -nut makes such 
demands as are to be expected from a lowland tropical 
perennial plant. The figure usually given for the 
lowest tolerable average temperature is 22° C, and 
this is probably too low. At any rate no such 
luxuriant growth and production can be expected at 
this temperature as in places where the average is 3 
degrees or more higher. This is to be understood as the 
average temperature for the year. A temporary fall 
to 15° certainly does no evident harm, and probably 
happens occasionally in all places in the tropics. 
Semler, whose discussion of climate and the coco- 
nut is most sane, suggests 10° as the lowest point 
temporarily tolerable. There is no evident reason why 
a still lower temperature, so long as it does not 
nearly reach the freezing-point, would do the coco- 
nut any considerable damage. However, the tropical 
climate is more distinctly uniform than it is hot, and 
the coco-nut thrives best where it is most constantly 
warm. So long as the heat is not too drying it is 
unlikely that coco-nuts are ever injured by too high 
temperature. 

It is usually the temperature which fixes the limit 



II 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 



21 



in latitude and altitude to coco-nut culture. In indi- 
vidual places, however, there may be other limiting 
factors. For instance, in the coco-nut country im- 
mediately around Mount Banahao, the highest groves 
are in an exceedingly moist district, and the moisture, 
by favouring the spread of bud rot, makes coco-nut 
cultivation unprofitable in a zone where the temperature 
would still permit it. On any large scale this palm is 
cultivated only within 20 degrees of the equator, but in 
locally favourable places it is a profitable crop at least as 
far as to the tropics. There are grown trees as far 
south as Fort Dauphin in Madagascar, latitude about 
25° south, and as far north as Lucknow in India, 
latitude about 27°, but they are said to be unproductive. 
They bear fruit at about the same latitude in Florida, 
but not on an industrial scale. The low shores of 
Florida, washed by the Gulf Stream, are probably the 
most northern point at which coco-nuts can be grown 
in the open even as curiosities. 

The limit in altitude depends, of course, upon the 
latitude. In general, the coco-nut will grow at the 
greatest altitudes on, or a little north of, the equator. 
In Java, Ceylon, Mindanao, and Luzon there are 
bearing trees up to an altitude of 800 metres, but 
nowhere so high on a commercial scale. Grown, but 
unproductive, trees, are reported in India at a latitude 
of 12° north, at an altitude of 1350 metres. At 
Batan, Benguet, in Luzon, latitude 15°, and altitude 
1100 metres, there are also unproductive trees, but 
so few and scattered that their sterility may be due 
to want of pollination as well as to the altitude. On 
a commercial scale, coco-nuts are grown only at much 
lower levels, the limit in general being about 300 metres 
in Ceylon and Malaya, and 200 metres in Polynesia. 
The reasons for these limits are in part climatic and 
in part commercial, the cost of marketing the product 
being likely to vary with the altitude. As one goes 
farther from the equator the coco-nut is naturally 
confined more strictly to the lowlands. In Jamaica 



22 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the cultivation is chiefly below 60 metres, but few 
productive trees being found up to 275 metres. 

In every land where there is any coco-nut industry, 
the moisture is a factor in the climate which requires 
much more careful consideration than does the tempera- 
ture ; for the temperature conditions are uniform over 
comparatively great areas, and are comparatively easily 
determined. The plantation of any size, which has 
not on itself considerable differences in the available 
moisture, is exceptionally uniform. Where there are 
considerable differences they demand their appropriate 
differences in the treatment of the coco-nuts, or else 
that parts be not used for this >crop. Everything that 
is true and important with regard to the need of the 
coco-nut for moisture, follows obviously from what has 
already been explained about transpiration. The simple 
general rule is that conditions should be such as to 
permit the most active possible transpiration, without 
the tree's suffering from the loss of water. 

The moisture needs to be considered in three forms : 
as rainfall, atmospheric humidity, and ground water. 
No rule can be given as to the tree's need of any one 
of these independently of the others. Speaking of 
whole islands, or of large tracts of country, the ground 
water depends upon the rainfall, but in small localities 
this is not at all the case. To a less extent still the 
humidity depends upon the rainfall ; nor is there any 
nearly exact dependence of rainfall upon humidity. 

The annual rainfall in a part of Ceylon which is 
noted for its coco-nut industry is 70 inches (178 cm.), 
and from the development of the coco-nut industry 
in this part of Ceylon the figure is often given as 
representing the need of the coco-nut. However, the 
tree flourishes in places in Ceylon (Negombo) where 
the rainfall is 2 metres. In various other parts of the 
world there is a prosperous coco-nut industry with still 
heavier precipitation ; as 3 metres in part of J ava, the 
Seychelles, Zanzibar, etc., 3 J on the eastern coast of 
Samar, and even 4 metres in Dutch Guiana and the 



II 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 



23 



Marshall Islands. On the other hand, the coco -nut 
thrives in the Puttalam district of Ceylon with a 
rainfall of 127 centimetres. On the Constance estate, 
the largest in Trinidad, the average rainfall is 156 
centimetres, but there are years when it falls to 
115 centimetres without injury, there being no dry 
season. Zamboanga has the best coco - nuts and 
the lowest rainfall in the Philippines. The average 
precipitation is probably less than 1 metre. Trees 
especially favourably placed are uninjured even when 
it drops to 413 millimetres, as in 1903, and even this 
limited amount almost all in one half of the year. 
In any dry season it can be observed that the trees 
begin to suffer when their supply of ground water is 
reduced, but not before that time. 

High atmospheric humidity is commonly regarded 
as beneficial to coco-nuts. This idea is justified only 
in so far as too dry air may result in the tree's losing 
water faster than the roots can replace it. The absence 
of coco-nuts from Egypt and from the hottest part of 
Australia is due to dryness rather than to the heat. 
The plant has too poor absorbing structures to be 
expected to thrive beside the date. But if such extremes 
be left out of consideration and attention confined to 
such lands as have some coco-nut industry, it is probably 
safe to say that dryness of the air never hurts the 
coco-nut, except when it is accompanied by dryness 
of the soil. Coco-nuts on the sides and tops of hills, 
and on ground underlain by porous limestone, need to 
have the air quite humid, and very uniformly so, and 
the rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year. 
Coco-nuts are often planted in such places ; but even 
with the best possible atmospheric conditions they 
cannot be expected to thrive like trees whose roots can 
constantly supply them with water for a more active 
transpiration. 

Not humidity but dryness of the air is really 
favourable for coco-nuts whose roots are always and 
adequately supplied with water, and the wise man with 



24 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



free choice will plant his coco-nuts where this condition 
can be realized. 

The injurious effect of very moist air is not confined 
to the checking of transpiration and consequent poor 
supply of mineral food. Extreme humidity is an 
indispensable condition for the spread of at least a part 
of the pests causing bud rot, and in this way can put 
geographical limits on coco-nut culture — limits sharper 
than are anywhere put by the dryness of the air. It 
is also reported that in Deli (Sumatra), too great 
humidity causes premature decay of the fruit. The 
bad effect of prevailing cloudiness has already been 
indicated. 

The wind increases the transpiration, arid, therefore, 
as long as enough water can be supplied by the roots, 
is beneficial ; beyond this point it injures the tree. 
The point above which an increase in the amount of 
wind — whether in force or in constancy — will injure 
the tree, depends obviously on the amount of water 
the roots can take up. Where the soil is dry, but little 
wind is desirable ; where the roots are constantly well 
watered it is desirable that the climate be decidedly 
windy. Where the soil is not moist enough for the 
trees to endure much wind, coco-nuts would probably 
still prove the most profitable crop, but the location is 
not a good one. On a little hill about 30 metres 
high on one of the Visayan Islands I counted the nuts 
on many trees, and found the average number more 
than twice as great at the foot as near the top. 

Storms are, in their action on the tree, altogether 
different from ordinary, accidental or seasonal winds. 
Their effect on the transpiration might be good or bad, 
according to circumstances, but is in either case not 
important. 

Eeports are frequently seen of the destruction of con- 
siderable numbers of coco-nut trees by typhoons. As 
the chief coco-nut producing districts of the Philippines 
are subject to typhoons, and as the tree thrives in 
exposed situations, I have been interested in seeing 



II 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 25 



what damage is actually done to it by storms. During 
several years of attention to this subject, including 
observation of the effect of a storm-wind reaching 168 
kilometres an hour, I have yet to see the first sound 
trunk broken by the wiud, or the first tree uprooted, 
unless its root system had already been exposed or 
weakened. Typhoons certainly do break sound coco-nut 
trees, but it is rarely indeed. Trunks extensively 
channelled by beetles are comparatively often broken ; 
and trees, the roots of which have been laid bare by 
washing away the soil, or which grow in ground too 
wet to permit the healthy growth of the roots, are 
often overturned. The loss of such trees is not a 
serious matter. 

Very severe storms weaken the trees and set them 
back materially by breaking the leaves ; and they 
sometimes destroy a considerable part of the crop in 
sight by throwing down immature nuts, even the very 
young ones, but vigorous trees entirely outgrow such 
injury within a year. 

However, in places where beetles, especially coco-nut 
weevils (red beetles), are a serious pest, violent storms 
furnish conditions for their entrance and multiplication, 
and in this way do damage which is neither insignificant 
nor transient. This will be discussed more fully in the 
treatment of diseases and pests. 

THE SOIL 

In books which deal with particular crops it is 
customary to give rules as to the soils which are 
suitable to the crops in question. In general, the same 
soils are described as desirable for all crops ; so that 
any one who would undertake to follow such rules would 
find very little by which to decide whether a given soil 
ought to be used for coco-nuts or for some other purpose. 
Instead of giving directions of this kind, I propose to 
refer to what we know about the root system and the 
water relations of the coco- nut, and to trust to an 



26 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



understanding of these to give a better idea as to what 
can be expected of any particular soil than can possibly 
be done in a discussion based on descriptions of the 
soil itself. 

There are, of course, certain general principles. These 
depend upon the facts that the coco-nut roots will not 
grow into water, and that they must always have a 
reasonable supply of water available for absorption. 
Exceedingly porous soils from which the water is 
drained readily are unsuitable because too dry. Still, 
the most porous soils can be used for the most successful 
coco -nut cultivation, provided for any reason their 
porosity does not result in their containing too little 
water for the use of the tree ; this is the condition we 
find on the beach. Soils with an impermeable hard- 
pan near the surface are unsuitable for coco-nut culti- 
vation because during rainy seasons they become full 
enough of water to seriously injure the roots. Very 
stony soils are unsuitable to coco-nut cultivation because 
in general sterile, and because they are likely to be dry. 
Still an almost ideal development of coco-nuts is possible 
on soils of this kind provided they contain water which 
bears the food necessary for the tree. 

Under the head of suitable soils the first place for 
coco-nuts, as well as for most other crops, must be given 
to deep alluvial plains. Such soils are rich in food, 
easily worked, and even without cultivation usually 
permit a very perfect development of the root system. 
The most prolific trees I have ever seen were on such 
soil on the plantation of the Moro Plantation and 
Development Company near Zamboanga. One tree in 
this grove yielded 112 and 106 nuts at two successive 
cuttings only two months apart. I saw it less than 
two months later, and another similar crop was ready. 
The nuts were small, but even so the yield was at a 
rate of more than 100 kilos of copra a year. 

As a matter of universal observation sandy sea- 
shores are suitable places for coco-nut cultivation. The 
reason for this is that they have back of them higher 



II 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 



27 



country, and the rainfall which falls on this higher 
country sinks into the soil and then moves in the soil 
toward the sea, carrying with it food which it dissolves 
as it moves. In time of drought, the amount of such 
water naturally decreases, but the seashore itself, being 
the place where such water necessarily comes close to 
the surface of the ground, is the last place to suffer 
from the scarcity of it. So long as there is enough 
water in the soil anywhere back of the beach to permit 
it to move through the ground, the beach itself will 
contain ample available fresh water, and in general the 
less of this water there is the richer it is in dissolved 
food. Beaches which have lagoons at the back of them 
instead of high grounds do not in general show an 
especially vigorous development of coco-nuts. 

Since it is moving water in the ground which is 
primarily responsible for the high development of 
coco-nuts on seashores it follows that other situations 
which likewise have constant moving water in the soil 
furnish excellent conditions for coco-nut culture. Thus 
plains sloping upward from the sea, even for great 
distances, are good coco-nut country so long as there 
is still higher ground back of them from which they can 
derive a constant supply of soil water. The country 
around the bases of mountains, whether near the sea or 
far removed from it, is therefore good coco-nut country. 
One of the largest coco-nut forests in the world is 
situated in this way surrounding Mount Banahao. In 
this district, with only a few breaks between groves, 
there are more than ten million bearing trees. The 
country around the foot of an old volcano is more 
certain to be suitable than that at the foot of mountains 
of other origin, because the volcano is usually porous. 
The water which falls upon it sinks into the volcanoes 
more than it does into ordinary mountain ranges, and 
comes back to the surface, well-charged with dissolved 
food, at lower levels. Old volcanoes usually have great 
springs surrounding their bases. From the highest zone 
at which these springs appear downward, the land 



28 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



can be trusted to be excellent for the production of 
coco-nuts. 

In general, soil which constantly contains free water 
is unfit for coco-nuts, and is unlikely to permit the 
development of a root system sufficient to hold the 
tree in its place or properly supply it with food. Still, 
if the level of the land is such that the water is moving 
in the soil, coco-nuts will be found in excellent condition 
on the edges of rice paddies, not more than half a 
metre above the level of the paddy. In the Kedoe 
plains of Central Java, and in the district already 
mentioned in Southern Luzon, and on the Coromandel 
coast in India, rice paddies and coco-nut groves are 
found mixed, with the patches of land most easily 
made into paddies devoted to rice. In such cases it 
will usually strike the eye at once that the coco-nuts 
standing at the edge of the rice are the most productive. 
This is probably due to their receiving the most light. 
While their being in this position is very good for the 
coco-nut, the contrary is the case with the rice. 

There is a widespread belief that the coco-nut needs 
salt for its best development. This probably arises from 
the fact that coco-nuts are found thriving naturally 
on the seashore. It has been observed in Northern 
Ceylon that the largest crops are harvested from May 
to August, and some planters of that district explain 
this by believing that the south-west monsoon brings 
considerable salt in the rain-water. As a matter of 
fact, I do not know of any good evidence that the 
coco-nut demands salt for its best development ; and 
the sea beach, even though it be beside the ocean, is 
found when analysed to be as free of salt as any of the 
land which lies above it. The coco -nut roots can 
indeed endure considerable salt, and are sometimes 
obliged to do so as a result of especially violent storms. 
Their power of resistance lets them thrive there in spite 
of occasional inundations with salt water which would 
kill the majority of plants. But the fact that the coco- 
nut can endure salt water is by no means a proof that 




COCO-NUTS AND RICE PADDY FIELDS. 



To face page 28. 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 29 



it needs it, or even can make use of it. It has been 
observed in Singapore by Mr. Kidley, and 1 have seen 
the same thing in Mindanao, that trees planted on 
flats which are subject to inundation by high tide are 
strikingly precocious. Where I have seen this, however, 
there was ground water moving seaward through the 
flats ; and I am not ready to conclude from the especially 
rapid growth and development of the young trees that 
this will prove to be a profitable place for bearing 
groves. 

With regard to the chemical composition of the 
soil, it would be possible to say a good deal too much. 
Proper physical composition is of a great deal more 
importance than the ground's chemical composition, if 
only the plants are able to secure sufficient water. The 
water will usually contain enough food to permit the 
satisfactory development of the trees. Good chemical 
analysis is often impracticable for a coco-nut planter ; 
and even if made, can by no means be trusted to 
show what the trees will be able to take from the 
soil. On large plantations where the obvious steps 
to ensure proper production have been taken, or when 
a man is preparing to invest very large capital in the 
establishment of a plantation, it is worth while to 
supplement care as to the soil's proper physical con- 
dition with some knowledge as to the food which 
seems likely to be available. It must always be borne 
in mind, however, that the food in the soil has no 
value so long as it remains there, and that only what is 
taken up by the tree itself will do any good. Chemical 
analysis will almost invariably show the soil of sandy 
beaches to be remarkably poor, and the same thing 
may equally well be true of other places where coco-nuts 
will do well because constantly supplied by moving 
soil water with fresh supplies of food. On the other 
hand, stagnant marshes will frequently show up re- 
markably well by chemical analysis, but still cannot 
be used for coco-nuts. 

When chemical analysis is used as a guide to the 



30 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. II 



prospective use of fertilizers, it should be remembered 
that the best natural conditions are likely to be those 
under which the profitable use of fertilizers is most 
difficult. For the moving water in the soil, which 
brings to the trees a natural supply of food, will like- 
wise tend to carry away from them the food which 
may be artificially applied about their roots. 



CHAPTEK III 



DISEASES AND PESTS 

A. Constitutional Weakness and Diseases. — Under 
this head are understood all ailments which are 
not caused by living enemies. The most universal 
of these are the various effects of malnutrition, but 
the most certainly fatal, directly or indirectly, is old 
age. Sure as old age is ultimately to overcome 
every tree which escapes all other ills, the time of its 
coming, and the loss it entails, are by no means beyond 
control. Trees unfavourably located or badly treated, 
suffer the same decrease in thickness of trunk, in size 
and number of leaves, and in productiveness, finally 
reaching sterility, which mark the coming death of 
very old trees. Trees of less than middle age do not 
usually follow the course of very old trees to the extent 
of dying, but linger until their weakened condition 
makes them succumb to some more sudden death. 
Such trees are as useless before they die as afterward. 
When trees show symptoms of premature old age it 
is the planter's business to ascertain and remedy the 
cause as best he can. Unless the cause is climatic, 
and sometimes when it is so, the remedy will be clear 
if the cause can be found. The real cause may turn 
out to be a living enemy, or it may be too little or 
too much moisture, or faulty nutrition, or mechanical 
injury. When no cause can be found, the trees should 
be destroyed, to get rid of possible points of attack by, 
and centres for the spread of, living enemies. Very 

31 



32 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



old trees inevitably become less productive, and at 
the same time the expense of harvesting the nuts and 
the danger of their breaking as they fall increase. The 
time comes when they are no longer worth taking care 
of and they should then be destroyed. 

The effect of inadequate or improper nutrition may 
be shown by the same symptoms as old age, or in 
other ways. A tree growing without enough light 
will for some time bear at least as large leaves as 
any other plant, but the production of fruit will not 
continue long, because the shade makes the proper 
supply of the plant in both carbohydrate and mineral 
food impossible. Malnutrition may be with regard to 
the total food or to a single kind of food. The remedies 
in the former case are thinning the trees, cultivation, 
and irrigation or drainage. When the absence of only 
one or two of the food-elements is responsible for the 
bad condition, the want can usually best be remedied 
by the use of fertilizers. Unless the cause of weakness 
is very clear, or the need of action is much more urgent 
than it usually is, any proposed remedy (as drainage, 
irrigation, cultivation, thinning, or the use of various 
fertilizers) should be tested on a few trees before it is 
tried on a whole plantation. 

In all cases, then, in which coco-nuts are in poor 
condition but no living enemy is to be found, the 
treatment consists in invigorating them "by sanitary 
measures and better nutrition. 

B. Pests. — General Considerations. — If a small 
community of men lives by itself, never seeing or 
having anything to do with other men, its members 
are in no danger from smallpox or syphilis. If, 
however, they had rats, and the rats came and went 
and associated with other rats, the community might 
be attacked by plague. With the growth of cities 
and nations, the opportunity for the spread of disease, 
and consequently the danger to each individual, and 
the necessity for strict sanitation, quarantine, and skill 
in medicine, are manifolded. Commerce and general 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



33 



intercourse between peoples add still more to the danger, 
having, for instance, introduced smallpox to America and 
syphilis to the Old World. The situation of any crop 
is in principle identical with that of man. When 
plants are cultivated on a small scale, and are widely 
and sparsely scattered, they are comparatively safe, but 
the development of a great industry in one of them 
multiplies its danger from disease. And this is made 
greater still by commerce ; as, for instance, the coffee 
rust would probably not have reached Java and the 
Philippines by natural means of dissemination. 

The most of the diseases of the coco-nut are like 
the plague of man in having other hosts as well, and 
may therefore attack a solitary and healthy tree. But 
every one of its infectious or epidemic diseases, so far 
as known, unlike the malaria of man, or the classic 
rust of wheat, can go through its whole life-cycle in 
the one host, and spreads directly from one coco-nut 
tree to another. Plantation cultivation on a large 
scale furnishes ideal conditions for epidemics. When 
great areas are brought under almost continuous 
cultivation, as in Ceylon, on the Godaveri delta in 
India, on the coast of Trinidad, and in Central Luzon, 
the danger from disease grows at least apace with the 
industry. The fact that almost nothing was published 
on coco-nut diseases until the last few years, or that 
as recently as 1906 Prudhomme could state that the 
important enemies and parasites are all animals, does 
not prove that fungus and bacterial pests previously 
did not exist and do damage. The bud rot in the 
West Indies and in Luzon existed so long before it 
attracted outside attention that nothing is known 
about its origin or first appearance in either region. 
But these and other diseases have increased very much 
in destructiveness, and as the opportunity for their 
spread improves they must be expected to become 
yearly more destructive, unless they are guarded 
against with a care which was formerly not suspected 
of being necessary. 



34 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



It is worth while to remember, moreover, that the 
coco-nut is a perennial, and that it and its diseases find 
conditions in general constant throughout the year. 
Nature places no bar of winter to the spread of its pests. 
The field crops of the farmer in the temperate zones can 
at least easily be made to begin each season free of 
disease. No pest of temperate lands has ever wiped 
out a great industry, as the coffee rust did the coffee 
business of Ceylon. In the forests of temperate countries 
the great bulk of the vegetation over extensive areas is 
made up of at most a very few species, often of a single 
one. In the tropics the climatic opportunities for 
epidemics are so much greater that a characteristically 
different type of forest has been evolved, in which a 
great number of kinds of trees are present, and each is 
comparatively widely and sparsely scattered. Such a 
formation as a pine forest, or oak forest, or coco-nut 
forest cannot exist in nature in the tropics ; and if men 
will plant and maintain forests of coco-nut, or any other 
single tree, in the tropics, it will prove to be possible, 
in the long run, only by greater care in guarding against 
disease than any crop of temperate lands requires. 

The preceding discussion was written in 1909 as an 
introduction to a series of lectures on coco-nut pests. 
During the intervening four years about as many new 
pests have been described as all that were previously 
known, and more has been written on the subject than 
in all previous time. The end is of course not yet. In 
the study of coco-nut diseases the last eight years show 
an excellent record. The immediate future should show 
much greater devotion to practical interference with 
pests. Knowledge of the nature of pests and of the 
mischief they do, or even of methods of combating 
them, is not of great value unless it is applied. 

FUNGI 

A considerable number of fungi are known to live 
upon the coco-nut. Among these are two of the woody 



DISEASES AND PESTS 35 



fungi (Fomes), which are parasitic on the trunks in the 
Philippines. These doubtless do some injury to the 
tree ; and this will probably prove to be true of various 
others. Up to the present time, however, only four 
species are positively known to be destructive, and 
our knowledge of these is very recent. One of these, 
Pythium, will be taken up in discussing the bud rot. 

Thielaviopsis ethacetica. — This fungus causes the 
bleeding diseases of coco-nut trunks in Ceylon. It 
usually shows itself at a height of 2 metres, more or 
less, above the ground. It is described by Petch, in 
papers read before the Ceylon Agricultural Society, as 
follows : 

A brown liquid oozes out through the cracks in the cortex, 
and forms a rusty patch which usually turns black afterwards. 
On cutting into this patch, the internal tissues are found to be 
discoloured and decaying ; they are brownish and finally turn 
black. If the diseased area is cut in wet weather, the liquid 
sometimes squirts out ; in fact, it may in some stages be 
collected in a glass by simply pressing on the diseased patch. 
After some time other black patches appear on the trunk, 
usually on the same side. When this happens, it will generally 
be found that this is not a new infection, but that the disease 
has worked up or down inside the stem, and the liquid has 
found a new outlet. I have seen trees which looked as if a 
bucket of tar had been poured down one side of the stem. It 
is important to note that there is no sign of the disease until 
the liquid oozes out, and that when this occurs the internal 
tissue is already decayed to some extent. 

In about two or three years the hard outside of 
the trunk falls away. The crown gradually becomes 
smaller ; and the roots wither more or less completely 
at a depth of about a metre. The tree may die in five 
or six years, sometimes more quickly. 

Young bearing trees, up to say twenty years, are 
most susceptible. Very old trees are attacked, but 
comparatively little injured. The disease occurs on all 
soils, swampy, sandy, or rocky, manured or not, near 
the sea, and inland. 

"With regard to treatment, Petch says : 



36 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



At the first appearance the diseased part should be cut out, 
the wound burnt with a torch, and then covered with hot coal 
tar. The pieces cut out must be burnt. When the disease has 
advanced so far that this local treatment is impossible, the tree 
must be cut down and burnt. This treatment is said to have 
been successful. 

Reports in subsequent years indicate that the disease is 
well under control. 

One planter stated that he had known the disease 
for sixty years, but it was first made a subject of report 
in 1903. It was found along the Negumbo Canal, at 
Hendala, also at Nalla, where in 1906 more than 3000 
trees were found infected. None had died, and the 
yield was not evidently affected, but the disease was 
spreading. The disease is also known at Veyangoda, 
Kurunegala, Mirigama, Heneratgoda, Marawila, Am- 
balangoda, and Dumbala. It is alsoi found in India. 
However, Butler has found the same fungus on the 
trunks of various apparently vigorous palms in India, and 
does not regard it as at all injurious. The same fungus 
does not necessarily produce the same effect under 
different conditions ; and, as is true of various human 
diseases, there may be light forms and dangerous forms 
of the one pest. 

This fungus is also charged with causing the pine- 
apple disease of Javan cane, another disease of cane in 
Hawaii and the West Indies, and the canker of coffee. 
Rorer reports a bleeding disease of coco-nut trunks in 
the West Indies caused by Thielaviopsis paradoxa, 
the same fungus also attacking sugar-cane and pine- 
apple. 

Pestalozzia palmarum. — This is a microscopic 
fungus parasitic on the leaves of the coco-nut. It was 
first described from British G-uiana, but seems to occur 
throughout the tropics. While it must always weaken 
the trees, it does not often itself kill them, and is not 
known to have become even locally very destructively 
epidemic except at Kempit, in the Banjoewangi Presi- 
dency, Java. This outbreak was studied and reported 



DISEASES AND PESTS 37 



upon by Bernard. The first symptoms are the appear- 
ance of minute whitish spots ; these grow and become 
grey-brown, with a narrow white border ; finally the 
centre dries. The spots are usually elliptic in shape. 

The disease was first reported at Kempit in August 
1905, and the Director of Agriculture recommended that 
the infected parts of plants be burned, and that the 
plants be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. In January 
1906 it was reported that the disease was making de- 
structive progress, and Bernard was sent into the field. 
It was found that in order to burn the diseased leaves 
they had been cut and then carried across a field hitherto 
free of infection to the place of burning. One field of 
50 bouw, 5000 trees, and an adjacent one of 70 bouw, 
7000 trees, had almost all the trees infected. The soil 
was virgin and rich, and there was no dry season. There 
were 150 bouw, 15,000 trees, a little over a year old, 
3 kilometres away, separated from the diseased fields by 
forest ; these were free from the disease. In the field of 
50 bouw more than half of the trees were so seriously 
attacked that there was already no hope of saving them. 
About 1000 were already dead, and 650 had already been 
replaced. In this field the trees were just over a year 
old. In the 70 -bouw field the trees were recently set 
out, and the disease was doing less injury. 

The period of incubation, as determined by putting 
some diseased leaves in the crown of a sound isolated 
tree, is about two months. The failure to get results 
from the use of Bordeaux mixture in these fields is 
attributed to the probable fact that the trees were 
generally infected before it was used. The disease is 
not regarded as dangerous except to weak trees. At 
about the age of a year, they have used up the nourish- 
ment in the parent nut, and are not at once in a 
condition to vegetate without it vigorously enough to 
resist the fungus. 

Bernard's recommendations are : 

1. That plants likely to be exposed be sprayed with 
Bordeaux mixture — 2 kilograms of copper sulphate in 



38 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



50 litres of water, poured into 2 kilograms of liine in 
50 litres of water — at intervals of fifteen days. One 
should take especial care to reach the youngest leaves. 
The use of corrosive sublimate is also suggested. 

2. Cut all infected leaves and burn them in situ. 

3. Watch for the reappearance of the disease. 

4. In the case in question, sacrifice the 50 bouw 
worst infected, and use the land for some other crop for 
a year or so. 

5. In planting, avoid planting great numbers of 
equally old trees at once, so that many may not at 
once reach the susceptible age. Also, leave barriers of 
other crops, or interplant crops which will overtop the 
young coco-nuts until they pass the time of danger. 

Another fungus, Helminthosporium incurvatum, 
follows Pestalozzia, and contributes to the injury. 
Pestalozzia is also found in Java on tea, Para rubber, 
guttapercha, and other plants, to which it usually does 
no evident harm. It should always be kept in such 
check as is practicable, to keep it from doing serious 
damage when conditions become temporarily more 
favourable for the fungus than for the host. 

Home states that, though never known to be itself 
fatal, this is probably doing more damage than any 
other fungus disease of coco-nuts in Cuba. Because of 
its prevalence, it was at one time supposed to be the 
cause of bud rot. 

Stockdale has investigated what he regards as 
merely a geographical variety of the same disease in 
Trinidad, and furnishes the following information in 
regard to it : 

Many trees have leaves which appear to be drooping, and 
with the tips of the distal leaflets of a greyish colour. An 
external examination of the leaflet shows that whereas the 
tip is quite dry and dead and many parts of the edges of the 
leaflet are in a similar condition, there are small yellowish 
spots, more or less regular in shape, wlrich may be observed 
to increase in area. . . . During the growth of the spots, they 
gradually change from a yellowish colour to a greyish white, 
and each is bordered by a margin which is of a dark colour, 



DISEASES AND PESTS 39 



generally an intense greenish brown. . . . After a time, when 
a large number of disease spots have made their appearance, 
the whole leaf assumes a yellowish appearance, and gradually 
becomes greyish and withered. . . . When a large number of 
the leaves have been badly attacked the terminal bud is left 
standing alone, and it is only a question of time before this 
falls over, and the death of the palm results. . . . Close 
examination of the upper surface of the leaf of one of the 
disease spots when it has assumed the grey colour shows 
minute warts not larger than the head of a small pin. They 
are blackish-grey in colour, and are irregularly distributed, 
often being very numerous. . . . These small pustules bear 
the spores of the fungus. . . . The distribution of this fungus 
appears to be fairly general in Trinidad, but it is a serious pest 
in only two districts. 

Stockdale advises that all dead trees be cut down, 
and all dead material burned. If a tree has but a few- 
diseased leaves, these should be cut off and v burned, and 
the tree watched for more. If a fungicide is tried, 
Bordeaux mixture is recommended. 

Preuss reports Pestalozzia as doing serious mischief 
to seedlings in the Bismarck Archipelago. 

Diplodia. — The exact botanical standing of the 
fungi which cause the disease or diseases to be described 
next is still in doubt. This is not a matter of merely 
scientific interest, but one of very practical importance ; 
for so long as we do not know just what organisms 
cause each of the forms of disease in question, we are 
not likely to know that the diseases of petioles and those 
of roots are or are not identical, nor whether or not the 
coco-nut and cacao harbour pests dangerous to each 
other. Without such knowledge preventive measures , 
must be taken partly in the dark, or else grave risks 
be run. 

The following account of the Trinidad " root disease " 
is extracted from the report of Stockdale, who regarded 
it in 1906 as the most dangerous of the three diseases 
he found on that island : 

An attack of this disease is generally first shown by the 
leaves. They show a slightly wilted appearance, then turn 



40 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



yellow, first at the tips, and then gradually all over the leaflets. 
These dry up, blacken, hang down from the "cabbage," and 
often remain for a considerable time before they are shed. 

The petiole partly or completely breaks. Sometimes 
the outermost, sometimes some other cycle of leaves is 
first to wilt. 

After the yellowing of the leaves, trees bearing a good crop 
of nuts as a rule gradually shed most if not all of them, 
irrespective of their size and state of development, and the 
flowers subsequently produced do not set. In fact, it is possible 
for a person to pick out with certainty trees that are diseased, 
before any yellowing of the leaves is noticed, by carefully 
looking at the condition of the leaves and at the latest flowers 
that are being put forward. 

The general appearance is similar to that produced by 
drought. Petioles of badly diseased trees, after they 
fall to the ground, almost always show a large number 
of minute ruptures of the epidermis. The first point of 
attack appears to be where the petiole merges into the 
sheath. The fungus bears hyaline, unicellular spores, 
capable of germinating in this state, but these at full 
maturity become two-celled and brown. Patouillard 
classified it as a Botryodiplodia. 

The roots of the same trees always have a fungus, 
which destroys the cells of the cortex. This fungus has 
not been seen to fruit, but is believed to be the same as 
that which attacks the petioles. The wood in the trunk is 
reddish in the parts connecting w r ith diseased roots and 
petioles. As the trees die with the symptoms of drought, 
and in some cases diseased roots were found on trees 
with sound petioles, it is believed by Stockdale that it 
is by attacking the roots that the fungus does most 
serious injury. In the Guapo and Cedros districts 
" three or four months is usually the time that inter- 
venes between the first external symptoms to the death 
of the tree, and usually within another three months a 
ring of diseased trees is noticed around the dead stump. 
In Mayaro the disease is much less prevalent, and the 



DISEASES AND PESTS 41 



death of diseased trees does not take place so rapidly," 
taking nine to twelve months. 

It would appear probable that the disease may spread : 

(1) By mycelium through the soil from root to root. 

(2) By spores blown from tree to tree. 

(3) By germinating tubes of spores from petioles attacking 
either the roots of the same tree or the roots of another. 

(4) By germinating " chlamydospores " from decaying 
petioles. 

There are six principal ways in which we may hope to 
attack this disease. They are : 

(1) Destruction of all diseased material. 

(2) Isolation of diseased areas (by a trench 30-45 centi- 
metres deep). 

(3) Besting of infested land before planting " supplies." 

(4) Spraying and application of chemicals. 

(5) Improved cultivation and drainage. 

(6) Searching for and propagating disease-resistant varieties. 

The first of these ways is the most important. If 
chemicals are to be used, unslaked lime is recommended 
for the soil and Bordeaux mixture for the leaves. 

While it has not been found possible positively to 
identify the fungus on the roots in Trinidad, a fungus 
infesting the roots in Travancore has been cultivated 
by Butler, and found to develop as a Botryodiplodia. 
It is highly probable, but not certain, that this is the 
same fungus which causes the root disease in Trinidad. 

The disease has long been known in Travancore, 
but has only of late years been recognized as the cause 
of great damage. 

Very recently Hart has inoculated a healthy cacao 
pod with the Botryodiplodia from coco-nut petioles, 
and produced all the symptoms of the " brown rot " of 
the cacao. The fungus growing on this infection differs 
from Diplodia cacaoicola, the specific cause of the 
brown rot, only in having slightly larger spores. It is 
not yet possible to state positively that the brown rot 
of cacao is identical with the coco-nut disease. But it 
is certain that they are very nearly related, and that in 
at least one direction an infection may pass from one 



42 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



tree to the other. Diplodia epicocos is a very common 
fungus on dead coco-nut leaves in the American tropics, 
which has generally been regarded as quite harmless. 
Diplodia and Botryodiplodia have spores exactly 
alike, but are supposed to differ in that the former bears 
its reproductive structures directly on the vegetative 
ones, while the latter develops from its vegetative 
filaments a solid dark mass of fungus tissue, on which 
in turn the reproductive cells arise. It is perfectly 
possible that the same fungus should produce its re- 
productive bodies directly from the vegetative under 
some conditions, as on the pod of cacao or on the dead 
leaves of coco-nut, but indirectly under others, such as 
it finds on the coco-nut petiole and roots. 

The latest word on these fungi is that of Bancroft, 
recently Mycologist of the Federated Malay States, who 
raised an ascospore form of the Diplodia on Hevea, 
certainly the same as that infesting cacao, and showed 
that its proper name is lliyridaria tarda. 

According to Fredholm, the fungus causing the 
petiole disease, which he calls Diplodia, very generally 
initiates the bud rot in Trinidad. From the careful 
description of the symptoms of the latter in Cuba, given 
by Home, this seems possibly to be the case in that 
island as well. The damage done by Diplodia by 
creating conditions favourable to the spread of bud rot 
might prove many times as serious as anything it can 
do directly and by itself. However, Bancroft writes 
that he has often found it on diseased buds of coco-nut 
in the Malay States, but regards it as a mere saprophyte. 

An unknown fungus is said to attack the nuts them- 
selves in British Guiana. Another is reported from 
Vitilevu, where it destroys the lamina of the leaves, 
leaving the midrib naked ; this reads more like the 
work of some insect. 

As already noted, there are many fungi saprophytic 
on the coco-nut. There are several dozen of these in 
the Philippines. It is very probable that some of these 
have the power to advance the decayed tissue in which 



DISEASES AND PESTS 43 



they live, at the expense of any living tissue which may 
adjoin it. But there is no reason to suspect any one of 
these of being able to attack a sound tree, or of being a 
serious additional enemy of injured trees. 

BUD ROT 

The most incurable and, unless strongly handled, 
the most dangerous diseases of the coco-nut are the bud 
rots. These attack the soft young tissue at the apex 
of the stem, and sooner or later destroy the growing 
point itself. Since the coco-nut does not branch, and 
never renews its growing point, this immediately stops 
the formation of new leaves and flowering branches, 
and very soon kills the tree. 

Except in the case of the Godaveri Eiver bud rot 
and that of the West Indies, the organisms causing these 
diseases are not positively known. Whether or not 
they themselves cause the disease, gas -producing 
bacteria are always present in the rotting mass and 
produce a vile odour. From a diseased or dead tree, 
spores or germs can be carried by insects or by the 
wind to other trees. When a tree is once infected by 
bud rot, it is practically impossible to save it in any 
way, and energetic action must be taken to prevent the 
spread of the disease. Bud rot has been reported in the 
West Indies and about the Caribbean Sea, in Portuguese 
East Africa, in Ceylon, in the delta of the Godaveri 
River in India, and in Luzon. Since different organisms 
seem to cause the bud rot in different parts of the world, 
and the disease therefore does not everywhere run 
through the same course, it is worth while to describe 
the symptoms and the methods of treatment tried in 
the different regions. 

India. — A bud rot in Travancore is described in 
the Indian Forester of 1894 and in a letter in 
Ferguson's All about the Coco-nut. It is a 

. . . decay of the tender, unexpanded leaf-shoot. At first, the 
lower end of the shoot grows discoloured, and in a few days 



44 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



general putrefaction of this and more or less of the cabbage 
ensues ; the shoot droops, and in some cases falls to the 
ground ; the tree decays soon after, and we are left lookers-on 
and losers. ... It is only the most vigorous trees that are, as 
a rule, affected. 

The natives were said to ascribe it to falling stars. 

A bud rot of the Palmyra and other palms near the 
mouth of the Godaveri River is said to have been seen 
as long ago as 1894, but was not reported until 1904, 
and not, at this point, on the coco-nut until 1905. 
Butler published a careful study of this disease in 1907, 
at which date it infested a circle of about 14 miles 
radius. The first symptom is a discoloration of a 
recently expanded leaf, which then turns w r hite and 
withers ; other leaves follow ; the nuts fall prematurely 
and no more are formed. 

The leaf - sheaths of all diseased trees are marked by 
irregular sunken spots in greater or less number. In the 
earlier stages . . . the spots are white ; later on they become 
brown. They are always sunken, and usually have somewhat 
raised edges. They begin in the outer sheaths and may be 
traced in through succeeding ones toward the heart of the 
bud. As the inner layers are softer, the inside patches are 
often larger than those outside, and may even give rise to new 
patches which extend out again to the outside sheath. . . . 
The earlier patches are dry and either free from any appearance 
of a parasite on the surface or covered with a white mycelial 
felt. Very soon a wet rot follows, which extends with great 
rapidity in the delicate central tissues and converts the whole 
heart into a foul- smelling mass of putrefaction, in which every- 
thing is involved and the original agent is lost sight of. 

It is only in the early states before the wet rot starts that 
the true cause can be made out. This is a fungus of the genus 
Pythium. ... In quite young spots the mycelium is found 
only within the leaf tissues, where its threads extend between 
the cells, sending little branches or haustoria into them. . . . 
Later on it comes out on the surface, forming often a dense 
white felt of filaments bearing sporangia. There is no positive 
information as to its dissemination. No remedial measures 
intended to cure trees already attacked are possible. 

It was at first recommended by Butler that all 



DISEASES AND PESTS 45 



infected trees be burned, and that apparently healthy 
trees in infected districts be treated with Bordeaux 
mixture. A considerable force of men was employed in 
the immediate restriction of the disease in this locality. 
As a result of experience under the local conditions, 
the use of fungicides was given up, and the work con- 
centrated in the cremation of the sources of infection. 

A report of Mr. Macrae, Entomologist of the 
Government of Madras, reports that in spite of all that 
it has been possible to do to restrict this disease, it is 
up to the present time continuing to advance at the 
rate of a little over a mile a year. With minor excep- 
tions the area affected remains continuous. The advance 
has naturally been impeded for a time by such barriers 
as river channels and palmless areas, but on the whole 
has progressed in all directions at a remarkably even 
rate. The campaign against it has resulted in a con- 
siderable decrease in the mortality. The intensity of 
the disease varies. Along water channels, on the side 
of paddy lands, and on heavy or wet soil in general, 
the mortality is greater and more rapid than in drier 
situations. There is enough evidence now available to 
show that the disease spreads : 

1st. Chiefly by palm climbers. 

2nd. To a smaller extent by insects (palm weevils 
and rhinoceros beetles). 

3rd. Occasionally by the wind and by birds. 

The disease continues to attack the Palmyra palm 
chiefly, the coco-nut being comparatively immune and 
the Areca still more so. The coco-nut is rarely tapped 
for toddy and the Areca never, and this is probably 
the reason for their comparative immunity. There is 
no doubt as to the share which is played by insects also 
in carrying this disease. The rot has been found 
especially prevalent near certain fishing villages, where 
there were piles of decaying refuse, in which the coco- 
nut beetles could multiply freely. Getting rid of coco- 
nut beetles is one of the methods of restricting the 
spread of the disease. 



46 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



From numerous infection experiments it appears 
that the time from infection up to the death of the 
growing point is up to ten months. Field observations 
would extend this period almost to two years, and three 
years or more may pass before the palm is reduced to 
the bare pole. It is reported that there are rare cases 
of recovery even after a great part of the crown has 
withered. This is due to the growing points having 
escaped injury. Such trees remain susceptible and 
usually die as a result of renewed attack. 

Ceylon. — Bud rot is reported by Petch as having 
appeared in Ceylon in 1906. It was found only in a 
small isolated patch of 10 acres, about 800 trees, of 
which 50 were dead or dying. The infected trees were 
three or four years old, and old trees were not found 
ailing. 

The first indication of the disease (in the case of young 
plants) is the withering of the youngest unfolding leaf. This 
turns brown, and can be pulled out of its sheath ; it is then 
found to end in a soft brown mass. . . . The decay of this leaf 
is followed by that of the other fronds in succession, commenc- 
ing with the youngest and proceeding outwards and downwards. 
The fronds decay and fall off until only a conical stump 
remains. If the dying fronds are removed and the bud 
exposed, there will be found, instead of the white cabbage, a 
pale-brown semi-liquid mass, which becomes dark brown with 
age and possesses an odour resembling that of a tan yard. In 
an advanced stage this rot includes the whole of the cabbage, 
and stops only when the woody portion of the stem is reached. 

The organisms responsible for this decay are bacteria, which 
are found in abundance in the rotting tissues ; they are short 
thick rods with rounded ends which form whitish colonies of 
slow growth on sugar agar. . . . These bacteria appear to find 
an entrance to the cabbage along the youngest leaf. 

Diseased trees should be felled and the terminal bud burned. 
It should not be allowed to lie on the ground and become dry. 
... If steps are taken to remove dead and dying palms as soon 
as they are observed, there need be no fear that this disease 
will become a serious menace to coco-nut cultivation. Felling 
and burning diseased trees is no doubt an expensive process, 
but it must be remembered that the work is of the nature of an 
insurance effected on the remaining trees, and its cost should 



DISEASES AND PESTS 47 



be estimated in terms of the survivors, instead of being com- 
pared with the actual value of the trees destroyed. 

Close planting favours the spread of the disease, by 
preventing the evaporation of moisture from the young 
shoots. 

The bud rot in East Africa is known from a letter 
cited by Petch, who quotes from it : "If the dead 
tree is not immediately destroyed by fire, the disease 
rapidly spreads to the neighbouring trees, and finally 
throughout the whole plantation." 

Luzon. — The history of epidemic bud rot in the 
province of La Laguna, in the Philippines, is here given 
at some length because the measures employed against 
it have in this case proved their thorough efficiency. 
The disease was first reported in 1907, but had existed 
in the region for many years. The description of it is 
taken from a report made by myself in 1908. 

In the badly infested districts there are patches where 
almost every tree is smitten, and larger ones where fully half 
of the trees are dead or dying. Under conditions favourable 
to it the' disease will kill half of the trees in a single year. 
Under less favourable conditions it is less violently epidemic ; 
and in its present form it will never prove violently destructive 
in most parts of the Philippines. The fact that a given tree 
escapes one year is no guarantee that it will not be killed the 
next. Under conditions favourable to the disease it is only a 
question of time, unless vigorous restrictive measures are carried 
out, when practically every tree will succumb. 

The climatic condition permitting the disease to be exceed- 
ingly destructive is a very moist atmosphere. Bud rot is 
epidemic only in the upper belt of coco-nut country about Mt. 
Banahao, which is one of the most humid districts in the Islands. 
The coco-nuts at the foot of San Cristobal, which are compara- 
tively unreached by the wet ocean winds, are free from bud rot. 
Below the zone where the bud rot is most at home, there is of 
course a region in which infection can occur under conditions 
temporarily favourable, or affecting single trees or small 
localities. As every tree for miles around is likely to receive 
the germs, it is inevitable that in this lower zone some will be 
infected each year. As these die the damage is cumulative, 
and the gaps caused in lower groves increase in number or size. 



48 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



But there is no good evidence that the region in grave peril is 
widening downward. 

Further evidence that humidity is a condition of contagion 
is found in the fact that young trees are more susceptible than 
old ones. About the crown of old tall trees the air moves 
comparatively freely, and keeps them comparatively dry. For 
every old tree killed, two which are just coming into fruit, or 
would do so within a year or so, die, although the total number 
of such trees is naturally much less than that of adults. On 
the other hand, very young trees, of two years or less, are com- 
paratively rarely attacked. Since humidity is the condition of 
easy infection, the extension of the disease occurs principally 
during the most humid season. 

The first symptom, always in young trees, and almost always 
in old ones, is the yellowing and wilting of the youngest still 
folded leaf. The disease attacks the soft undifferentiated tissue 
of growing points. It is likely that infection normally occurs 
where the germs can get direct access to these points without 
penetrating through mature tissue ; but the germs might also 
be borne by insects which could carry them in through 
mechanical lesions in old tissue. In young trees the youngest 
leaf presents the only possible path of direct unaided infection ; 
and, however infection may occur, the youngest leaf is directly 
inserted in the tissue susceptible to rot, and must die before 
the rot embraces the most of the soft tissue commonly called 
the cabbage. As soon as the youngest leaf is noticeably dis- 
coloured, it can easily be drawn out. The next youngest leaves 
follow in rapid succession. Within from two to four months 
after the disease can first be detected, the most of the leaves 
will have fallen. A few of the oldest leaves grow from tissue so 
hard that the rot makes little or no progress in it ; these 
leaves, four to a dozen in number, persist for months after the 
younger leaves are gooe. It is in this stage, with a thin whorl 
of old leaves crowning the stem, that the most of the diseased 
trees are found. These leaves very likely fall only when their 
natural time comes, uninfluenced by the rot. 

In the case of old trees, the young flowering branches, like 
the youngest leaves, spring from the soft heart. Infection can 
occur along these branches, and they can give the first external 
sign of disease ; but these are exceptional cases. Branches 
whose nuts are more than half grown are grounded in tissue 
so mature that the disease does not usually prevent the nuts 
from ripening. But no new nuts are set after the appearance 
of the rot, and the youngest nuts almost or quite always fall 
without becoming ripe. 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



49 



As is true of bud rot everywhere, the decaying tissue 
has a powerful and vile odour. The stench is very characteristic, 
but not easily described ; one of its components is the smell of 
tan. Several organisms have been isolated from the decaying 
bud, but no one has been proven to be the cause of the rot. 

Some of the owners of groves have found that if the first 
leaves affected are pulled out, and the rotten mass removed as 
completely as possible, new leaves will sometimes appear after- 
ward, and that in some of these cases the tree recovers. One 
planter states that 25 per cent of cures can be effected in this 
way ; but I believe that if any trees ultimately recover they 
are exceedingly few. For practical purposes the tree, once it 
shows any symptoms of the disease, is valueless, and the thing 
to be done is to prevent the spread of the disease from it to 
other trees. The use of any disinfectant chemicals, unless in 
the hands of experts, cannot be expected to be effective, because 
of the difficulty in making them reach every part, or even any 
part, of the diseased tissue. 

The only agent which can be relied upon to destroy the 
organisms is fire. Every tree which shows symptoms of the 
disease should have its heart, and the structures immediately 
around it — the apex of the trunk and the bases of the leaves — 
completely burned. During the drier months this is a matter 
of but moderate difficulty, but during the rainy season it can 
be done only by the use of kerosene. A vigorous campaign of 
six months should so restrict the disease that it will cease to 
be a serious menace to the coco-nut industry. 

This recommendation had been made a year earlier 
by a botanist of the Bureau of Science, without any 
result whatever. It has been made by every one who 
has made a study of bud rot ; but a mere recommenda- 
tion will not stop a pest. In this case, while the field 
study was being made, and after it was finished, pains 
were taken to talk with as many as possible of the men 
owning or in charge of coco-nuts in the affected region, 
and to give practical demonstrations of what ought to 
be done. The municipal councils were then persuaded 
to pass o/dinances requiring the burning of all infected 
trees. These ordinances had no legal force, being 
beyond the power of the municipalities. But they 
showed the disposition of the people and officials of the 
towns, and so made it easy to get similar legislation by 

E 



50 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the Provincial Board, and then to keep up the interest 
of the town officials in its enforcement. The Act passed 
by the Provincial Board of La Laguna and still in force 
is as follows : 

Whereas it has been represented to the provincial board by 
duly qualified inspectors of the Bureau of Education and by the 
owners of coco-nut plantations and the municipal officials of 
various municipalities that in certain districts of this province, 
especially in the jurisdiction of Lilio, Nagcarlan, and Magdalena 
municipalities, the agricultural pest known as bud rot has killed 
many coco-nut trees, is becoming widespread, and is a serious 
menace to the coco-nut groves throughout the province : There- 
fore, be it hereby 

Resolved, That by authority of law the provincial board 
hereby approves for the entire Province of La Laguna the follow- 
ing resolution : 

Any owner or lessee or person or persons having the manage- 
ment of coco-nut plantations, coco-nut groves, or coco-nut trees 
shall, upon the appearance of the pest or disease known as bud 
rot, immediately report same to the president of the munici- 
pality in which such trees are located. 

Further, Such owners, lessees, managers, person or persons 
who receive information, either by observation or otherwise, that 
the coco-nut trees are dying because of the pest or disease 
known as bud rot, or from any cause known or unknown, shall 
immediately report the matter to the municipal president of the 
municipality in which such trees are located. 

Each municipal president is hereby designated as an inspector 
ex officio of the provincial board, for the purposes of this resolu- 
tion, and shall, upon receipt of information that the disease 
known as bud rot exists or has appeared, immediately inspect 
such trees and require the owner, manager, or encargado " of 
such coco-nut trees to cut down such trees and destroy com- 
pletely, by burning, the crown or top of every tree so cut down 
and having the disease known as bud rot. 

Further, Any municipal president, as inspector, who fails to 
take the action required by this resolution and especially the 
foregoing paragraph, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 
P. 200 or thirty days' imprisonment, as may be decreed by the 
court having jurisdiction. 

Further, That when any owner, manager, or " encargado " of 
coco-nut trees refuses to cut down and destroy completely the 
top or crown, by burning, of all trees having the disease known 
as bud rot, the destruction of which is authorized or directed by 



DISEASES AND PESTS 51 



the municipal president as inspector, he shall be subject to a 
penalty consisting of a fine not exceeding P. 200 or thirty days' 
imprisonment, as may be decreed by the court. 

Tor the purposes of this resolution, all inspectors duly 
appointed by the director of education have the same authority 
as conferred by this resolution on the municipal president as 
inspector ex officio. Such inspectors appointed by the director 
of education are hereby authorized to enforce the provisions of 
this resolution in the same manner as the municipal president, 
i.e. by charging any person (or persons) who refuses or fails to 
comply with* the inspector's order to destroy the trees having 
the disease known as the bud rot before the court of proper 
jurisdiction. 

For the purposes of this resolution, and under authority of 
section 13 of paragraph (k) of Act No. 83 as amended, the pro- 
vincial board of the Province of La Laguna hereby confers juris- 
diction upon all justices of the peace of the Province of La Laguna 
to try violators of the foregoing resolution or regulations, and 
there is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the provincial 
treasury not otherwise appropriated a sufficient amount for the 
necessary expenses in paying costs of prosecutions before justices 
of the peace. 

Be it further resolved, That six certified copies of this resolu- 
tion be furnished each municipal secretary ; one copy for the 
municipal president as inspector, the other five copies to be 
posted in five conspicuous places in the municipality. A certi- 
fied copy shall be furnished each justice of the peace, a certified 
copy to the director of education, and a certified copy to the 
honourable judge of the Court of First Instance of the Sixth 
Judicial District. 

This resolution was passed March 13, 1908, but 
almost immediately rescinded under orders from Manila. 
It was re-enacted October 14, and this time followed by 
a very vigorous campaign of fire, although the season 
was far from favourable. Three months after this work 
began a tree showing symptoms of bud rot had become 
an uncommon sight. In the villages I visited at this 
time the new cases appearing were certainly not one- 
tenth as numerous as they had been a year before. I 
have since made a practice of visiting this district once 
or twice every year. This year, 1913, for the first time 
since the vigorous campaign against bud rot, I found 



52 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



half-a-dozen dying trees in the course of a walk of 
several miles, and these I suppose were burned immedi- 
ately afterward. The absolute extermination of a pest 
is usually impossible, and the disease will probably 
become epidemic again at some future time if given a 
chance. But for the present it is practically harmless. 

The means by which bud rot was reduced to practical 
harmlessness in La Laguna are the same which should 
be taken wherever any epidemic must be fought. They 
are three : 

1. Determining the most practical field measures. 

2. Securing legislation strong enough to ensure con- 
certed and vigorous action. 

3. Educating the people. If any one of these is 
more important than the others, it is the last. Printed 
matter ought not to be relied upon to do this anywhere; 
it is not convincing enough. The most of the villagers 
of the Laguna coco-nut country cannot read at all, but 
they would have had to be shown in the same way in 
any case. 

America. — Bud rot is known in the West Indies 
and on the American continent in various places. The 
earliest dates which can definitely be placed on its 
known presence are 1870 in Cuba, 1875-6 in Demerara, 
1891 in Jamaica, 1889, with a probable report as early 
as 1834, in Grand Cayman, and 1893 in Honduras. It 
received no real study until the last decade, but has 
recently received more attention here than in any 
other part of the world. 

Cuba. — In Cuba it was considered dangerous enough 
to demand the appointment of a commission for its 
study in 1883; in 1901, Busck, an entomologist of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, was sent to 
investigate it. He was unable to make more than a 
guess at the cause of the disease, but, irrespective of 
the particular organism causing it, soundly advised the 
destruction of all diseased material. Immediately after 
this the Jamaican bud rot was reported by Earle as 
bacterial. In 1904, Dr. Erwin Smith, the foremost 



DISEASES AND PESTS 53 



authority on bacterial diseases of plants, made a personal 
visit to the infected districts in Cuba ; and other visits 
were subsequently made under his direction. 

The Estacion Central Agronomica de Cuba began the 
investigation of the disease in 1904. The results of this 
study were published by Horne. John R. Johnston has 
since published a monograph on the subject. The 
disease is certainly known from Havana to Artemisa, at 
Cardenas, Cienfuegos, Manzanillo, Banes, on the coast 
west of Santiago de Cuba, and practically throughout 
the Baracoa district. A plantation cannot be established 
in any part of the island, with any reason to feel safe 
from the appearance of the disease, before the trees are 
mature. Horne believes this to be true of all the 
neighbouring areas, although the disease is unknown 
and apparently not present in Puerto Eico. 

The description of the disease is taken from Horne : 

In a bearing tree the first symptom noted is usually that 
the young nuts drop. The half-grown nuts usually fall a little 
later, but often a few ripe nuts hang on the tree until it is 
completely dead. After the dropping of the first small nuts 
the flowers will be seen to be blackened and, as the disease 
advances, the flowers and racemes will be blackened when the 
sheath bursts and allows them to protrude. 

As the disease advances still further, younger swords 
(tetas) are affected and their development is stopped. When 
these affected swords are examined, on the surface of the outer 
sheath there is a rot which evidently is progressing downwards. 
In the case of the youngest ones this may penetrate into the 
cabbage of the trunk, but those nearly ready to burst before 
being affected have never been found with the rot following 
down to the trunk. Evidently the tissue of the lower part of 
the stalk of the opened flower cluster is too hard. Infection of 
the inner sheath always follows that of the outer, and that of 
the rachis is still later. Single flower buds are found blackened 
inside the still unopened sheaths, where apparently there is 
no chance for the entrance of insects or the introduction of 
infection. 

During these studies no case has been found in which 
the disease had attacked and destroyed part of the flower 
clusters and finished its course, leaving the rest of the tree 
healthy, although in the very severely attacked groves at 



54 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Baracoa one very beautiful flower cluster opening on one side of 
a tree has often been seen and. many young nuts still attached 
on the same side, while on the part of the tree towards the pre- 
vailing winds and facing the worst affected portion of the grove, 
all nuts had dropped and the young flower clusters seriously 
affected. ^ 

The dropping of part of the nuts of a cluster, or of 
all the nuts by trees just coming into bearing, cannot 
be taken as evidence of bud rot. 

Fading or turning yellow of the leaves is the symptom by 
which it is generally possible to recognize the disease in trees 
of all ages. This is generally first noticed in the case of some 
of the oldest leaves. . . . The leaves gradually become light 
yellow, and the leaflets dry from the tips and sides. As the 
disease progresses the leaves become weak and break with 
the wind in various ways, the lower ones usually falling off. 
Examining a mature leaf which is about dead, nothing can be 
found on the leaflets or outer petioles to account for the trouble, 
but on the upper surface and at the base there is more or less 
decay, and this usually reaches a little way into the trunk. 

The most characteristic symptom of the disease is the rotting 
of the youngest undeveloped leaves in the centre of the top. 
This symptom generally appears after the others have become 
well developed, but it may be the first one noted. The first 
stage of this is the appearance of watery decayed spots on the 
surface of the unopened leaves. 

If a very young leaf with only the growing point coming out 
into the air is affected, it rots rapidly, and, from the base of 
the tree, nothing is seen to be wrong until the bud is examined. 
[By analogy with the accounts of the Trinidad bud rot, this is 
what is to be expected if the disease is caused by bacteria alone, 
without the presence at first of fungi.] 

Once well started the rot moves down along the surfaces of 
the undeveloped leaves, rapidly penetrating the tender tissues 
and destroying them completely. . . . The whole central column 
is converted into a soft stinking mass. When the terminal bud 
is reached it rots, and the tender upper end of the trunk also. 

The tree is usually in the advanced stages within one or 
two months from the time the first signs of the disease appear. 
Usually three or four months more elapse before the stump is 
left bare. . . . So far as our observations go, there is in nature 
no recovery. Apparently all genuine cases of bud rot prove 
fatal. 



DISEASES AND PESTS 55 



Johnston says that from two months to two years 
may intervene between infection and death. 

Various insects and fungi are found associated with 
the bud rot ; prominent among the latter are Pestalozzia 
and Diplodia. The disease spreads chiefly in the 
direction of the prevailing winds. 

Basing his advice apparently on Jamaica experi- 
ence rather than on his own, Home recommended two 
remedial measures : 

Flaming, or burning out, the tops of all early cases, 
or trees suspected to have the disease. 

Spraying with Bordeaux mixture in the hope of 
curing early cases, and for the protection of healthy 
trees. 

With regard to his own experience with burning out 
the material of the crown, Home says : 

A trial of flaming to cure sick trees was carried out by the 
present writer at Baracoa in the summer of 1907. . . . No tree 
was saved which had a well-developed case of the bud rot, and 
none was saved in the part of the grove where the disease was 
in its most destructive form. Some of the flamed trees Vhich 
had been very carefully observed, and which evidently had the 
■ disease when treated, were apparently recovering at the last 
visit in September. Treatments were made in March, June, 
August, and September. 

The effect of burning a tree depends to a great extent, first, 
on the weather ; second, on the condition of the tree. 

Of 144 trees treated in March, June, and August, 
1907, 113 were already dead in September. The re- 
maining 31 were said to be apparently recovering. 

The use of Bordeaux mixture was not given a good 
test in Cuba. Five pounds of common salt was scattered 
into the top of each of five trees supposed to have bud 
rot ; all died with the usual symptoms except one, and 
it is doubtful if this one ever had the disease. 

The chief reliance has certainly to be placed on the 
careful destruction of the diseased trees, to get rid of 
the sources of infection. The means of destruction are 
the same the world over. As another preventive measure, 



56 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Home suggests the use of wind-breaks as barriers to the 
spread of the disease. Strips of natural timber, left 
when forest land is put into coco-nuts, can be expected 
to have a limited value in this way against the spread 
of this and other diseases. Close planting is certainly 
favourable to the spread of the disease, and is to be 
condemned for this as well as for other reasons. 

The Cuban Government made an appropriation of 
fourteen thousand dollars to carry further the study of 
this disease, but without results of value. 

Jamaica. — Remedial measures have been better 
tested 1 in J amaica than anywhere else. The naming 
method originated here. The Director of Agriculture 
reported in 1905 that "Mr. Cradwick has been engaged 
at intervals during the last two years in applying various 
remedies suggested by me. These experiments are still 
in progress, but I may say that I find the most effectual 
remedy is to spray with the Bordeaux mixture, at 
intervals of six to nine months, until there is no trace 
of the disease." 

The mixture used was : — 

Copper sulphate ... 6 pounds. 
Lime . . . . 4 „ 

Water . . . . .50 gallons. 

More definite reports showing the value of Bordeaux 
mixture have since been made, applying, of course, only 
to cases in the early stages of the disease. Advanced 
cases are destroyed. The cost of buying chemicals and 
applying the mixture is estimated at two peace in 
Jamaica. This is cheaper than it is possible in most 
countries to do the work well enough to give any chance 
of success. Mr. Fawcett is quoted by Home as stating 
that " a variety known as ' green skin ' in Jamaica is to 
a large degree resistant, and that the San Bias is the 
worst affected variety." 

Trinidad. — In Trinidad it has been established by 
Fredholm to his own satisfaction that bud rot appears 
in two forms. One of these is caused, so far as it has 



DISEASES AND PESTS 57 



been possible to determine, by bacteria alone ; the other 
by bacteria following an initial attack by a fungus, 
which Fredholm calls Diplodia. If one may judge at 
a distance, from the descriptions of the symptoms, he 
will conclude that both forms occur throughout the 
American tropics, and that the complicated form is 
decidedly the commoner and more dangerous. 

Stockdale's report, already quoted for other diseases, 
takes up also bud rot, and under this head deals almost 
entirely with the purely bacterial form. Quoting from 
him : 

The youngest leaves appear to stand upright and do not 
unfold as they should. Afterward they turn yellow and then 
brown in colour, and the whole appearance is that of a withering 
tree with the centre of the cabbage in an unhealthy condition. 
. . . After a time the terminal bud falls over, frequently leaving 
a ring of quite healthy -looking leaves at the top of a " headless " 
trunk. . . . This rot, in a diseased palm that is still standing, 
is invisible until the harder outer coverings of the bud are 
removed and it is found to be limited to the softer tissues. . . . 
A badly diseased bud is generally full of fly larvae, etc., and 
the smell is awful. . . . Microscopic examination of the roots 
and stem indicated that they were quite normal, while those 
portions of the terminal bud, in the advancing margin of the 
disease, showed in most cases bacteria of different kinds. 

The few isolated cases in the Cedros district would indicate 
that this disease is not of a very infectious character, but large 
numbers have been killed out in the Siparia district, the spread 
being very rapid and apparently from the windward. ... It 
would appear i to be largely due to unfavourable conditions of 
soil, drainage, etc. . . . With our present knowledge of the 
nature of the disease, it is impossible to suggest a remedy for 
trees that are already infected, and therefore steps must be 
taken for preventing its spread. It is suggested that the top 
four or five feet should be cut from the diseased trees and 
buried deeply with lime. 

Fredholm also found a few cases of bud rot in which 
no Diplodia could be found with the microscope, and 
in which the characteristic symptoms of the latter were 
absent. When the bud rot is purely bacterial, then, 
the first symptoms are shown by the youngest leaves. 



58 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



In the complicated bud rot the first attack is made 
by the Diplodia. Quoting Fredholm : 

The earliest sign of the disease is retarded growth of the 
" set " fruit, soon followed by the dropping of immature nuts. 
At the same time none or very scant new fruit is " set." Next, 
some of the leaves, generally the lower, begin to droop and turn 
yellow at the tips, which yellowing progresses until the whole 
leaf is involved. About the same time that the leaves become 
discoloured the basal portion of the petioles commences to 
show a dark-brown discoloration. Shortly the leaves dry and 
are found hanging down along the trunk, finally falling either 
as a whole at one time, but not infrequently breaking and 
coming down piecemeal. Thus leaf after leaf withers, until all 
are hanging from the " crown." But long before all the leaves 
have dried, or even become yellow, the last leaf just emerging 
from the top of the " crown," and as yet unexpanded, will be 
seen to shrivel and die. 

The pustules already described in connection with 
the Diplodia disease can be found on the bases of the 
petioles. The death of the tree is to be expected three 
months after the first symptoms are observed. 

If the crown of an infected tree is split, the usual 
decay of the cabbage will be encountered. Unless 
putrefaction is too advanced, the sides and top of the 
decaying region will be found bordered with a reddish 
tissue. 

Not seldom similarly discoloured areas will be found at the 
base of a pedicel or a petiole below and at some distance from 
the cavity and unconnected with it. Such conditions, when 
met with, serve to illustrate matters of great importance, as 
will be perceived when the mode of introduction of the 
disease is studied. This discoloured material, if examined 
microscopically, is found to consist of cell-tissues undergoing 
destruction by the mycelium of a fungus. If the petiole is 
split open its tissues will also be seen to be discoloured and 
permeated by strands of mycelium. 

The disease is endemic . . . and is not infrequently met 
with in the high woods. It is highly infectious, and after gain- 
ing a foothold in a plantation it speedily becomes epidemic. 

Evidences point to the wind as the main factor in the 
distribution. The disease is seen to progress more rapidly in 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



59 



direction with the prevailing wind, but the spores do not seem 
to be carried great distances, as it has been observed that 
patches of open land or low intervening hills can contribute 
barriers affording protection to a considerable degree. 

Although air -currents are the principal agencies of dis- 
tribution, no doubt exists that the disease can also be con- 
veyed by insects. . . . Instances of infection by means of 
insects are often found on diseased plantations, and to this 
agency can be attributed isolated cases of the disease occurring 
at considerable distances from infection centres. Such isolated 
cases, if not properly treated, will soon develop into new 
centres. 

The disease is spread by means of the two kinds of spores 
produced by the fungus. In common with other members 
of the genus Diplodia, it is a wound-parasite, i.e. effects its 
entrance into the host through wounds. When a spore falls 
on a cut or otherwise ruptured surface, it quickly germinates, 
producing a mycelium which with great rapidity pushes its 
way into the tissues of the host, and the first phase of the 
disease is established. The disintegration and softening of 
the tissues consequent on the growth of the fungus facilitate 
the entry of the bacteria, which readily find the way to the 
interior succulent parts filled with nutriment, wherein they 
set up their destructive fermentation process. 

The most usual point of attack has been found to be the 
" common pedicels " of the fruit clusters, into which the fungus 
gains entrance through the wounds made when picking the 
nuts. It is a well-known fact that this disease rarely attacks 
palms not arrived at the age of bearing — and the reason is 
very patent. Carefully conducted inoculation experiments in 
the laboratory have established the fact of wound infection. 

Fredholm holds out no hope of saving any tree 
known to be infected. Good cultivation is urged as 
likely to make trees more resistant. The planter's 
energy should be focussed on sanitation. " Burning by 
some method or another " is advocated. Fredholm 
seems to know from experience that burning completely 
is not too easy. And it must be complete to have 
any value. The more promptly it is done the better. 
The trunk should not be split unless necessary, as it 
burns. The use of lime is also suggested. A vigilant 
watch for fresh outbreaks is urged, and it is noted that 



60 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Diplodia spores can germinate after at least three 
months. 

First and foremost among measures tending to prevent the 
entrance of the fungus into the palm is the doing away with 
all unnecessary wounding of the trees, maliciously, thoughtlessly, 
or otherwise. The cutting down of dead leaves is uncalled for. 
Nature will bring them down in due time, and no wound 
will result. Whenever a wound is inflicted it should at once 
be dressed with tar or some other aseptic preparation, and 
such dressing should be frequently inspected and renewed when 
required. 

Fredholm advised dressing the wounds made in 
cutting the nuts. Commenting on this, Mr. W. Greig 
of the Cedros estate says : 

All practical planters, I am sure, will realize the impossibility 
of having this done thoroughly, and unless it is done thoroughly, 
it is worse than useless, so I suggest that picking be stopped 
on estates suffering from this disease, and that the palms be 
allowed to drop their nuts. This would necessitate a little 
more expense in keeping undergrowth down, and in collecting 
nuts, but the nuts would be of better quality than picked nuts. 

Where the nuts are used for copra-manufacture or, 
as is general practice in Trinidad, for oil-making on the 
plantation, the product is likely to show a very prompt 
increase in value, as a result of leaving the nuts to fall 
off themselves. 

The full account which has just been given of 
observations and conclusions of different men at 
different places in the West Indies is justified by the 
tremendous importance of the subject, and by the 
discrepancies between the different accounts. While 
all of these reports have been made within the last 
seven years the most comprehensive treatment by 
Johnston is later than any of those already quoted, and 
a brief but pithy statement by Eorer has been published 
since the appearance of Johnston's work. Johnston's 
most signal contribution to the understanding of the 
subject is the absolute demonstration that bud rot can 
be produced by Bacillus coli. This has been established 



DISEASES AND PESTS 61 



by isolation and identification of the germ from 
diseased trees, and by the inoculation of previously 
healthy trees with pure cultures of this bacterium, even 
by cultures of animal origin, and the consequent 
production of the disease. A few of Johnston's ex- 
periments seem to indicate that other similar bacteria 
may also produce bud rot ; but it is certain that in 
the great majority of cases this organism is present 
and pathogenic. This fact is completely confirmed by 
Rorer, who has found, moreover, that, whether or not 
infection is sometimes or usually at points already 
injured mechanically or by fungi, a culture of Bacillus 
coli poured into the crown of an apparently perfectly 
sound tree is able to produce the disease. 

Neither Johnston nor Rorer believes that Diplodia 
has anything to do with the bud rot. In this con- 
nection Rorer says : 

Although Stockdale has attributed the root disease to a 
species of Diplodia, there is no ground for this assumption. In 
fact, work which has been carried on here for the past two years 
points to the conclusion that physiological conditions, rather 
than any specific organic parasite, are responsible for the trouble. 

I take the liberty of saying that Bancroft, whose 
especially thorough study of Diplodia in the Federated 
Malay States has already been mentioned, expresses the 
decided opinion that this fungus is not an active parasite, 
and is accordingly very unlikely to be a precursor of 
bud rot. 

In spite of the joint judgment of these latest writers, 
I have thought it worth while to give the conclusions 
of Fredholm and Stockdale with considerable fulness, 
not merely for the sake of completeness, but also because 
their work in itself seems at a distance to be entitled 
to some respect. It is difficult to believe, even from 
Johnston's own account of the various ways in which 
the symptoms of bud rot develop, that a single organism 
is always entirely responsible. When the first symptom 
is the fall of the older leaves, one who holds to the 



62 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



opinion that the disease is always purely bacterial must 
suppose that the bacteria either attack the old leaves 
directly or that the progress of the disease toward the 
heart of the tree is very slow in such cases, and that 
recovery in such cases is not rare. 

With regard to treatment, Johnston has made a care- 
ful test of some of the remedial measures repeatedly 
suggested in the West Indies. In his experience none 
of these offers any promise. With regard to chemi- 
cal treatment, Johnston reports experiments with salt, 
copper sulphate, and Paris green, without good results 
in any case. His report on tree No. 286, page 57 
of his work, is typical. 

March 11 : Nine spikes of nuts and good open flower spike. 

May 28 : Same. 

June 6 : Practically the same. 

June 29 : Appeared unhealthy. 

July 6 : Had dropped 15 immature nuts ; 5 spikes of few 
nuts ; and above were 5 or 6 spikes of no nuts ; 3 good 
swords and good middle leaves. Placed 1 kilogram of 
copper - sulphate crystals at the bases of the leaves. 
Eains were so frequent that the crystals were soon 
dissolved. 

July 21 : Showed one open discoloured flower spike. 
August 6 : Only 2 nuts and many empty spikes on tree ; a 

dead flower spike, opened some time ago, and one just 

opening. 

October 21 : Central leaves bent over dry and dead ; swords 
dead ; many empty spikes ; all leaves yellow. 

Johnston did not try flaming the trees because 
satisfied in advance it would be useless. 

It has been contended by some people applying this treat- 
ment to their trees that there was subsequent recovery from 
the disease, at least to the extent of flower spikes opening out 
and setting nuts. It should be noted, however, that the tree, 
while retaining the disease, may send forth new flower-spikes 
and nuts for a period of at least a year after infection has 
taken place without any treatment having been applied. 
The writer possesses records of individual trees which show 
this. In many trees flamed the disease progressed subsequently, 
so that it presented to the writer no evidence of the value of 



DISEASES AND PESTS 63 



this treatment. As a diseased tree is certain to die if not 
treated, there can be no error in naming it ; bnt to try this 
method with healthy trees in the expectation of warding off 
infection is not advisable, because (1) there is no evidence that 
the treatment would succeed, and (2) there is the certainty 
that the tree would be seriously injured in a way that would 
make it more susceptible to infection. 

My own experience with fire in healthy tree makes 
me very sceptical as to the advisability of attempting 
to save trees by this method, especially in any place 
infested by Rhynchophorus. The most favourable of all 
the reports on the result of flaming, showing a possible 
saving of 31 out of 144 trees, has already been noted. 
The red beetle is not, indeed, as dangerous a pest as the 
bud rot ; but the difference is not great enough to 
make it worth while to apparently save less than one- 
quarter of the trees from the one pest at the cost of 
making them subject to the other. 

Altogether there are two conclusions which can 
certainly be drawn at this time with confidence that 
they will permanently hold good : 

First : The best way of fighting these diseases is 
by destroying the sources of infection. 

Second : Attempts to save infected trees are at 
best a waste of time and effort. Even if some trees are 
saved, it is at a cost for the whole work of more than 
those saved are worth. When unsuccessful these 
attempts lose time and preserve sources of infection. 
If I had stopped to test the efficiency of remedial 
measures, as I was urged to do by some of the coco-nut 
planters of La Laguna, I would not merely have delayed 
checking the bud rot, but at the same time would in- 
evitably have lost the confidence of the people to an 
extent which would have made such success as was 
achieved impossible. 

INSECT ENEMIES 

Oryctes rhinoceros. — This is one of the two 
decidedly most important insect enemies of the coco- 



64 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



nut. It is most commonly known to the English 
planters in the Orient as the black beetle. 

The Rhinoceros Beetle. — In the French colonies 
it is usually called " Khinoceros," and this name is 
also used in English and German (Nashornkafer). &f 
jJaftsc , r ^ne Tagalog name " Uang " and the Cingalese 
name " Kurunimiya " have been taken up in literature. 
This species, Oryctes rhinoceros, ranges from India at 
least to the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. 
It is not yet known in Polynesia. 0. rhinoceros is 
unknown iu Africa and Madagascar, but is represented 
by a number of related species having the same habits. 
Prudhomme names O. anglias, 0. colonicus, Coq., 
0. insularis, Coq., 0. pyrrhus, Burm., O.ranavalo, Coq., 
and 0. sinnar, Coq., as found in Madagascar. Vosseler 
has made a study of 0. boas, F., and O. monoceros, 
01., in German East Africa ; and Morstatt reports and 
figures the remarkably large 0. cristatus, Snell, from 
the same region. 0. preussi is reported from New 
Guinea. 

It has no immediate relative dangerous to the 
coco-nut in the American tropics, although an American 
species of Oryctes does prey on another palm. 

0. rhinoceros attacks several other palms as well 
as the coco-nut ; among them are Elaeis (oil palm), 
Borassus (Palmyra palm), Roystonia (royal palm), 
Nipa, Corypha, and perhaps Areca (betel palm). 

The adult rhinoceros varies from 34 to as much 
as 60 mm. in length according to sex and the condition 
under which the larva grew ; as a rule the males are 
between 40 and 50 mm. long, and the females less 
than 40 mm. Both are very dark and shiny brown 
or practically black above, and lighter brown beneath. 
The head is small for so large an insect, but conspicuous, 
at least in the male, because of the horn. In large 
males this is often a centimetre or more in length. In 
females it is smaller, and sometimes hardly evident. 
The mandibles are stout and strongly toothed, and, as 
pointed out by Banks, used by the insect in making 





THE BLACK OR RHINOCEROS BEETLE, ORYCTES RHINOCEROS 
ADULTS AND PUPA. 

Photograph by Bureau of Science, Manila. 

To face page 64. 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



65 



his hole in the tree. The thorax has a large concave 
area in the front, and back of this a point which is 
sometimes quite prominent in males. The hard wings 
are finely striate lengthwise, and do not quite cover 
the abdomen. The legs are hairy. 

The egg of Oryctes is not positively known except 
from specimens dissected from the females. These 
specimens are 3*5 mm. long, and 2 mm. in diameter, 
being a perfect ellipse in outline. The total number 
of eggs deposited by one female is probably not more 
than two dozen. 

Beginning at the size of the egg, the larva grows 
until it sometimes reaches a length of considerably 
more than 1 decimetre and a diameter of usually not 
more than 1 centimetre. The head of the larva is 
black, and the body, which is made of thirteen more or 
less indistinct segments, varies in colour from dull 
white to brownish yellow. There are no eyes. The 
front three segments of the body are provided with 
legs. The entire body is wrinkled, soft and fleshy, 
smooth in spots, and in spots bearing fine spines. It 
is ordinarily found bent downward in the same general 
form as the grub of JRhynchophorus. But, unlike the 
larva of Rhynchophorus, it is not greatly thickened 
posteriorly. There is no satisfactory and definite in- 
formation as to the length of life of a larva. According 
to various authorities, it is usually from eighteen to 
twenty -four months. Vosseler fixes the life of the 
larva of the species he studied A at least one year. 

There is likewise no general agreement as to whether 
or not this larva is injurious to the coco-nut tree. It 
lives without question in the decaying wood of the 
coco-nut ; and as young larvae are frequently found 
in decaying parts of the standing trunks, there is no 
reasonable doubt that the eggs are laid in these places. 
I have never seen the larva of the black beetle in any 
part of a coco-nut trunk which was not considerably 
decayed, and am therefore inclined to believe that 
these larvae do not channel the way through the 



66 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



fresh cabbage of the tree. If it is true that they 
live only in more or less decayed wood, then the 
larva itself is not to be regarded as directly injurious 
to the coco-nut, but merely as a thing which should 
be got rid of because of the damage which it might do 
in the future in another form or in other generations. 
The grubs are found in a great variety of decaying 
substances beside the decaying coco-nut wood or refuse. 
Favourite places of these grubs are decaying manure 
and decaying sugar waste, but wherever there is any 
considerable mass of decaying vegetable material there 
are likely to be a large number of Oryctes larvae 
growing in it. It is a common thing to find scores 
of these larvae in a small pile of rotting manure ; and 
the manure dump from a large stable is sometimes 
found fairly filled with these larvae in all sizes. The 
following quotation from the Tropical Agriculturist, 
22 (1902), 258, shows how readily the black beetle 
will breed in any kind of waste matter : 

Mr. E. V. Carey writes from Klang to the Malay 
Mail as follows : 

As instancing the danger of having any sort of rubbish 
lying about an estate, or in private compounds, the following 
little anecdote may be of interest. Some four months ago 
I had to discard a number of old sacks ; these were thrown 
in a heap on the ground, covering a space just six feet square, 
and left there. Last week I had happened to notice them, and 
stood by whilst they were being removed. From this one 
little heap no less than 201 larvae of the rhinoceros beetle 
were collected. . . . Moral: Let every one keep his grounds 
scrupulously clean, and have even the insignificant and 
harmless-looking collections of rubbish promptly burned. 

The cocoons are found in any places where the 
larva can live. In going from the larval to the pupal 
stage, the insect shrinks greatly in size so that the 
length of the entire cocoon is likely to be rather less 
than that of the larva, the pupa itself being not more 
than half as long as the larva was. The cocoon is 
made of different substances. The cocoons whose larvae 



DISEASES AND PESTS 67 



lived in the coco-nut are made of coco-nut fibres, which 
are , usually transversely and quite compactly matted 
^together.* 

As already noted, the adult of Oryctes is provided 
with jaws by means of which it can cut its way through 
hard wood. Its practice, however, is to go through as 
little* hard wood as possible. We are not concerned 
here with the method of its entrance into other breeding 
or feeding places. In entering a coco -nut tree, the 
rhinoceros lands in the crown and then walks downward 
until he is out of sight between the leaf sheaths, or 
often not so far but that the place is visible when it 
turns and begins to eat its way inward into the tree. 
As a rule, it eats fairly directly inward. The only 
certain object of the rhinoceros in visiting coco-nuts 
is to obtain food. It does not seem, however, that 
it eats any of the pieces which it chisels or tears from 
the tree. It squeezes these pieces and consumes the 
juice which is squeezed from them. The rate at which 
the beetle can tear its way through such tissues as 
those of the base of a mature petiole has been measured 
by Banks and by the students of the Philippine College 
of Agriculture, and in both cases found to be 1 milli- 
metre a minute. 

So large a beetle, of course, makes a very large hole. 
This would itself be conspicuous enough unless covered 
by leaf bases outside the point where the hole begins, 
but is made still more so by a plug or wad of torn- 
up fibres which the beetle pushes out behind itself as 
it digs deeper into the tree. If a fair watch be kept 
over a coco-nut grove, as is done wherever a number 
of nien are steadily employed to kill the beetles, these 
wads will be readily seen while fresh, and it is then 
easy to remove them and to remove or kill the beetle 
by means of a sharp piece of iron, or even of bamboo. 
In some places the practice is merely to kill the insect 
by punching a hole through it ; in others, a spiral wire, 
like a flexible cork-screw, is used, by means of which 
the beetle is removed and killed. The catching and 



68 THE COCO-NUT 



killing of these insects has been done with especial 
care in the British colonies of the Straits Settlements 
and Federated Malay States, and Ceylon ; but in a 
smaller way it has been practised in many other 
countries where these beetles occur. 

Experience as to the effectiveness of this warfare 
has not been uniform. In Ceylon it has not been found 
that, as beetles are caught year after year, there is any 
decrease in the number of black beetles which can still 
be caught. On the other hand, there has been a very 
great decrease in the number which can be caught in 
the Malay States and Straits Settlements. The reason 
for this is without doubt to be found in the warfare of 
an altogether different kind which has been waged in 
the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States at 
the same time at which the beetles were being collected 
and killed individually. 

This latter warfare is against the larvae of the beetle 
and consists of the destruction of their breeding-places. 
The first systematic piece of work in coco-nut sanitation 
on the part of any Government was the Coco-nut Trees 
Preservation Ordinance of the Government of the Straits 
Settlements, passed in 1890. This was amended in 
1895, and has since that time been in force. 

The terms of this ordinance as amended are as 
follows : 

STKAITS SETTLEMENTS 

Ordinance No. IV. of 1890. 

An Ordinance for the Protection of Coco-nut Trees 
from the Ravages of certain Beetles. 

6th March 1890. 

L. S. Cecil C. Smith, 

Governor and Commander-in-Chief. 

Whereas it is expedient to make provisions for the pro- 
tection of coco-nut trees from the ravages of certain beetles : 

It is hereby enacted by the Governor of the Straits 
Settlements with the advice and consent of the Legislative 
Council thereof as follows : 



DISEASES AND PESTS 69 



1. This Ordinance may be cited as " The Coco-nut Trees 
Preservation Ordinance 1890." 

2. It shall be the duty of the owner or person in charge of 
every coco-nut tree which is dead or is attacked by the beetle 
secondly described in the schedule forthwith to uproot such 
tree and either to consume it with fire or to bury it in the 
ground at a depth of not less than three feet, or to keep it 
completely submerged in water so that the beetle and all eggs 
and larvae thereof may be totally destroyed and that the tree 
may not serve as a breeding-place for any or either of the 
beetles in the schedule mentioned. 

3. If any person without reasonable excuse (the burden of 
proof whereof shall lie on the accused) neglects or refuses to 
perform the duty imposed upon him by the last preceding 
section, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five dollars for 
every tree in respect of which such neglect or refusal occurs, 
and the Director of Gardens and Forests, or the District 
Officer, or such other Officer as the Governor may appoint in 
that behalf, may cause to be performed the duty so neglected 
or refused to be performed, and may recover the cost of such 
performance from the defaulter in the Court of Bequests. 

4. (1) If any person keeps on his premises dead coco-nut 
trees or stumps of coco-nut timber, rubbish heaps or other 
accumulations of dung, vegetable refuse or other matter which 
would be likely to harbour or become breeding-places for the 
said beetles, and neglects or refuses to remove or destroy the 
same when required so to do by a notice in writing from 
any of the persons mentioned in the next following sub-section, 
he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars. 

(2) A notice in writing under the last preceding sub-section 
may be given by any of the following persons, namely : 

(a) The Director of Gardens and Forests. 

(b) Any District Officer. 

(c) Any Officer whom the Governor may appoint in that 
behalf. 

(d) Any owner or occupier of land planted with coco-nut 
trees and situated within one mile of the premises on which 
such dead coco-nut trees, or stumps, or coco-nut timber, or other 
accumulations of dung, vegetable refuse, or other matter are kept. 

(3) Upon the conviction of any person under this section 
the Magistrate may make an order authorizing : 

(a) The Director of Gardens and Forests, 

(b) Any District Officer, 

(c) Any Officer appointed to give notice under sub-section 
(2) hereof, 



70 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



(d) Any Police Officer, 
to cause such trees, stumps, timber, rubbish heaps, or other 
accumulations to be removed and destroyed, and any person 
so authorized may do all acts necessary for the execution of 
such order and may recover the costs of such removal and 
destruction from the defaulter in the Court of Kequests. 

5. All Officers of the Government Gardens and Forest 
Department, and the District Officer and his assistants, and 
any such other Officer as aforesaid, shall have access at all 
reasonable times into and upon any land whereon any coco-nut 
tree is growing for the purpose of inspecting such tree, and also 
into and upon any land or premises where there is reason 
to suppose that there are kept any such things as in the last 
preceding section are referred to. 

6. The Governor may from time to time, out of moneys to 
be voted by the Legislative Council, make such compensation 
as he may think fit to any owner of any coco-nut tree who, 
being in needy circumstances, is required to destroy such tree : 
provided always that the compensation shall not exceed five 
dollars for each tree, and that the compensation given in one 
year to any one person shall not amount to more than one 
hundred dollars. 

7. A person charged with an offence against this Ordinance 
may, if he thinks fit, tender himself to be examined on his own 
behalf and thereupon may give evidence in the same manner 
and with the like effect and consequences as any other witness. 

Passed this 6th day of March 1890. 

A. P. Talbot, 
Clerk of Councils. 

In the Federated Malay States the campaign against 
beetles is carried on under " An enactment for the pro- 
tection of coco-nut trees from the ravages of certain 
beetles" (Enactment IV. of 1898). This is patterned 
after the enactment of the Straits Settlements, from the 
amended form of which it differs most essentially in 
giving no authority to the owners of coco-nut planta- 
tions, but in centering the entire responsibility upon 
the employees of the Government. For this work the 
Government of the Federated Malay States employs an 
Inspector, two European Assistant Inspectors, and six- 
teen Sub-Inspectors, who are mostly Malays. The best 
endorsement of Acts of this kind is the results which are 



DISEASES AND PESTS 71 



obtained in their operation. The results have been so 
conspicuously good that these Acts should stand with 
the Laguna bud-rot resolution in a class by themselves, 
as legitimate models. 

The methods to be followed then in getting rid of 
black beetles are : 

First. — To get rid of every possible breeding-place 
for the larvae. This must be done for considerable 
districts in order to be effective. Any single planter 
who takes the proper care will naturally fail to obtain 
the proper immunity for his coco-nuts if the plantations 
of his neighbours are not kept in equally good condition. 

The campaign against the black beetles should be 
carried out in the way which has already been described 
in the case of the bud-rot. The individual owners of 
coco-nut trees and plantations, and other occupants of 
lands in the neighbourhood of coco-nuts, must be made 
individually to understand the evils of permitting any 
breeding-place for the black beetles to exist on their 
premises. Laws or ordinances, varying more or less in 
their application as the circumstances may demand, must 
be passed and must be enforced. The thoroughness of 
practical enforcement will depend on the thoroughness 
with which the campaign of education has been carried 
out. It must be kept constantly in mind that there are 
many other substances in which these beetles breed just 
as rapidly as they do in the decaying wood or rubbish 
of the coco -nut, and that these other substances — 
manure, cane waste, or of whatever nature — must be 
got rid of just as carefully as the wood of the coco- 
nut itself. It should also be understood that Oryctes, 
at least at times, breeds in the ground, where it is 
in general beyond the reach of effective attack. The 
destruction of visible or accessible breeding -places, 
however it may abate the nuisance, can therefore not 
be expected to get rid of the pest completely. 

Second. — When all of the measures provided for in 
the preceding paragraph have been vigorously executed, 
then, and then only, it is worth while to undertake a 



72 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



campaign against the individual beetles in the coco-nut 
trees. The most effective way of fighting these which 
is known at this time is by killing them with a sharp 
iron or stick in the holes in the tree, or pulling them 
out of the holes and then killing them. After this is 
done, it is a good practice to plug the hole with a piece 
of clay, or in any other handy way, in order to prevent 
other beetles from entering easily in the same place. In 
some places the beetles are said to be driven out by 
merely pouring water into the holes. 

Third. — It has been observed that trees which are 
tapped for the production of toddy are rarely, if ever, 
attacked by the black beetles. These beetles are 
frequently found drowned in the vessels which are 
used to catch the sap, and it may be that the freedom 
of the trees from attack is entirely due to the greater 
attraction for the beetles which is exercised by the sap 
as it begins to ferment. In groves which are rather 
severely infested by beetles it is a good practice to use 
a considerable part of the trees for a few months for the 
production of toddy in order to get rid of the beetles, 
even though the toddy is hardly profitable in itself. 
In neighbourhoods where the beetles are constantly 
numerous, and where it is impracticable to get rid of 
the outside sources of infection, it will be found good 
policy to tap occasional trees, even as many as one tree 
in every four, for the sake of the protection of the 
tapped trees and their neighbours. Where there is a 
demand for the toddy, it is not an unusual condition 
that the trees which are tapped yield higher returns 
than those which are used for the production of copra. 
This method of fighting beetles therefore has a great 
advantage over all others in that the campaign can 
itself be made a source of profit instead of expense. 

There are other ways of less importance which have 
been advocated for the suppression of these beetles. 
Considerable work has been done at the Philippine 
College of Agriculture in an attempt to poison the 
beetles without poisoning the trees. It has been found 



DISEASES AND PESTS 73 



that with sufficient care this can be done by means of 
carbon bisulphide or hydrocyanic acid. Except in the 
most expert hands, however, neither of these can be 
used without some danger to the tree, and both are 
dangerous in the hands of careless persons. Neither 
can be advised for general plantation use. The use of 
salt, and of sand and ashes, or best of all of very finely 
ground glass, any of them sifted among the leaf-bases 
of the crown of the tree, has been recommended as a 
means of keeping the beetles from going into individual 
trees. The immunity which can be provided in this 
way probably rests upon the irritation of the beetle by 
particles which get between the segments of its body 
and cut into him ; but this immunity is at best only 
partial. Either poison or this method may sometimes 
be used to good purpose in protecting individual trees 
which are especially valuable, as, for instance, where 
they are used for decorations on lawns; but on a 
plantation scale it has not been shown that the use 
of the ashes or other fine particles produces a sufficient 
freedom from attack to make it worth practising. 

Since the completion of this manuscript, three papers 
have arrived, dealing with the presence of Oryctes 
rhinoceros in Samoa. The most comprehensive of 
these, being in the nature of a review, is in the Gardens' 
Bulletin of the Botanic Gardens at Singapore for 
December 1913. A very full account of the work is 
also given by Friederichs in Der Tropenpjlanzer, 17 
(1913), 538. The beetle is supposed to have reached 
Samoa in 1910, or possibly in 1909, in a shipment of 
rubber stumps from Ceylon. It was first noticed, 
November 4, 1910, in coco -nuts near the Customs 
House at Apia. 

Quoting from the Singapore publication, by Burkill : 

On the 8th of November 1910, the Government of Samoa 
issued a proclamation in vernacular to the effect that the beetles 
and their grubs should be collected, and promising a reward of 



74 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



one mark (36 cents) for every twenty beetles and the same for 
every fifty grubs. Seventeen days later a law was promulgated 
stopping coco-nut planting, ordering the cleaning up of all 
existing plantations, forbidding the using of coco-nut trunks 
for bridges and pig-styes, and arranging for inspections. About 
£2000 was the cost of this method of dealing with the pest up 
to the end of January 1912, and yet no satisfactory impression 
had been made on its numbers. Therefore on the 1st of 
February 1912, it was made compulsory to search for and 
destroy the insect. Following this there was issued on April 
19 th, 1912, a decree calling into being a commission with 
powers to inspect and compel owners of coco-nuts to keep their 
estates clean, and to remove structures made of coco -nut 
trunks, or standing dead trees, at the owner's expense. Then 
on the 10th of May 1912 appeared an order requiring all able- 
bodied persons in the affected districts to turn out at six o'clock 
on every Wednesday to search for beetles and grubs, which 
were to be brought to the village headmen, counted and 
destroyed by fire or hot water. Into this great holocaust 
passed the grubs of beetles which happen to be similar to those 
of Oryctes. Friederichs names them specifically ; but their 
number is a matter for estimation. From the 1st of April 
1912 to the 31st of March 1913, roughly, ten million grubs 
and a quarter of a million beetles were collected and killed on 
the island of Upolu ; allowing for the grubs of the similar 
beetles, Friederichs puts down the Oryctes larvae destroyed as 
six million and the beetles as two hundred thousand — a nice 
little family originating in a few grubs imported in 1910 or 
possibly 1909. 

To this figure has yet to be added the number of the grubs 
and beetles collected on the European Plantations. On the 
estate of the Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen-Gesellschaft 
der Sudsee-Inseln zu Hamburg over the same period were 
collected and destroyed about 350,000 grubs and 23,200 beetles. 
Further, the number of insects trapped by the Commission over 
the same period was 180,000 eggs, 776,000 grubs, 220 pupae, 
and 11,300 beetles. 

A plant pathologist was secured from Germany, 
particularly to fight this beetle, and a considerable force 
has been employed in the campaign, both by the 
Government and the leading plantation company. 
Almost every method has been employed, and these 
are fully described and discussed in Friederichs' paper. 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



75 



The method which has given most satisfaction is 
trapping the insect in holes. 

For the making of a trap a hole is dug in the ground 
from nine to twelve feet square, and about two and a half feet 
deep. Eotten coco-nut stumps, plantain stems, and soil are 
put into it ; and over the top large leaves, such as coco-nut 
leaves, bread-fruit leaves, and plantain leaves, are placed, rising 
perhaps a foot above the surface of the soil. Into these pits 
the female beetles penetrate to lay eggs and the male beetles to 
find the females. What beyond digging the traps is necessary 
is that they should be opened at regular and at not too distant 
periods, or that the beetles in them may be in some way killed. 

At distances of about one hundred yards along some of the 
roads in Samoa these traps have been made in series, and on the 
plantation of the Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen-Gesellschaft 
there is one trap to every hundred standing trees. 

On the latter estate the traps are opened every six weeks 
or two months. 

Burkill's paper contains a considerable amount of 
information on this beetle in other countries, including 
a review of a careful study at Pusa in India. He 
believes that under favourable conditions six to seven 
months are enough for the insect to pass from the egg 
to maturity, and with this opinion I am in complete 
agreement. The paper closes with an account of 
Rhynchophorus, which is short and altogether to the 
point. 

Ehynchophorus ferrugineus. — This pest is most 
commonly known as the red beetle, the name used by 
the planters of Ceylon and British Malaya. Banks 
calls it the Asiatic Palm Weevil. Its native name in 
Ceylon is " Kandapanuwa." In Annam it is called 
"Con-Duon." The Tagalog of Luzon do not distinguish it 
from " Uang," which is usually Oryctes. Some Visayans 
of Samar call it " Dalipos," and those of Negros, 
" Bagangan," but these names are also applied to 
Oryctes. It is the most deadly insect of the coco-nut, 
but, since it cannot attack sound trees, not the hardest 
to combat. Its known range is from India to the 



76 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Philippines, 1 and it is almost certain that it reaches to 
New Guinea. Beside the coco - nut, it attacks some 
other palms, but no plants of other kinds. 

Other species of Rhynchophorus having the same 
habits are R. phoenicis in Africa, and R. palmarum in 
the West Indies and on the American continent. And 
there are other species with R. ferrugineus in the Far 
East. What is said here about its treatment applies 
equally to its immediate relatives. R. palmarum lives 
also on sugar-cane. 

The red beetle belongs to a group of insects, the 
weevils, practically all of which are destructive to 
vegetable substances, and among which it is remarkable 
for its great size. The adult varies from less than 
3 to more than 5 centimetres in length. Like 
other weevils, it has a boat-shaped body narrowing to 
both ends, and a long, slender snout, the end of which 
curves downward. The female is said to use the snout 
to punch holes in the tree, and to lay her eggs in these 
holes. The short antennae are attached to the snout 
near its base. The head is very small compared to the 
thorax. The whole insect is very variable in colour ; 
from reddish-brown to almost black. The thorax often 
has large dark spots on a lighter background. The 
median dorsal band is usually darker or lighter than 
the rest of the body. The elytra, or hard wings, are 
ribbed lengthwise, and at least their borders are usually 
nearly black. The egg, as described by Banks, is 
2*4 millimetres long, and 0*6 millimetre wide at the 
middle, slightly more pointed at one end than at the 
other, and a very light ochre in colour. To the naked 
eye its shell is smooth and shining, but under the 
microscope it is finely reticulate. The eggs are 
deposited in the soft wood. 

The destructive stage in the life-history of the red 
beetle is the larva. Beginning at the size of the egg, 
this grub grows until it becomes considerably longer 
than the adult, with a thickness of two-fifths or one- 

1 I follow Banks in calling the Philippine insect R. ferrugineus. 





THE RED BEETLE, RHTSCHOPHORUS FERRUGINEUS, ADULTS 
AND LARVA. 

Photograph by Bureau of Science, Manila. 

To face page 76. 



DISEASES AND PESTS 77 



half of its length. It eats a channel through the soft 
wood or the heart of the tree, the channel necessarily 
widening as the larva grows. The larva begins its life 
inside the tree, and normally never comes to the surface. 
Therefore, neither it nor its work is directly to be seen. 
It can sometimes be heard if the ear is held closely 
against the outside of an infested trunk. As a rule, the 
first indication of its presence is the appearance of 
mutilated leaves or the collapse of young leaves. A 
tree badly infested by these larvae may be expected to 
be killed, promptly or slowly, by the destruction of its 
heart. Young leaves may simply cease to appear, or 
may be killed one at a time after they appear, or the 
younger part of the crown may be undermined so that 
it falls out. 

The head of the larva is brown, rather large, and 
without eyes. Its body is white, and is thickest behind 
the middle. It has thirteen segments. The surface is 
velvety in appearance, and much wrinkled. Scattered 
all over the body are shiny spots, each of which bears 
one bristle, excepting the spots on the next to the last 
segment, which bear six bristles each, and four pro- 
tuberances, each with two longer bristles, on the last 
segment. The larva is without real legs. As usually 
found, it is curved strongly downward. 

The cocoons of Rhynchophorus are made of coarse 
coco-nut wood fibres, closely woven together. They 
are elliptical in outline, 5 to 12 centimetres long, 
and more than half as much in diameter. They are 
numerous in badly infected trees, sometimes being 
found in the thick bases of the petioles, whence the 
adult will be able to escape directly into the air. They 
have always been described as formed close to the 
surface, but in decaying crowns are produced at the 
last points reached by the larvae, where the tissues are 
just softened, at whatever depth from the surface of 
the trunk. Within the cocoon is the pupa, showing all 
the parts of the adult. 

There is a wide difference of opinion as to the time 



78 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



required for the life-cycle of Rhynchophorus. Mr. E. E. 
Green, Government Entomologist of Ceylon, says : 
" I have found nearly fully grown larvae of the beetle 
in trees under conditions that indicate that they must 
have developed within a period of six weeks. It seems 
possible that the insect may reach maturity in from 
eight to ten weeks time." Banks estimates the necessary 
time at eighteen to twenty-four months. I have found 
numerous cocoons containing larvae, apparently mature, 
in trees which had been cleaned perfectly and used for 
bait ten weeks before. Vosseler puts the duration of 
the life-cycle of Rhynchophorus phoenicis, F., at one 
year ; the pupa rests six to eight weeks. 

The adult does not fly during the day, and apparently 
travels, as a rule, but a short distance. All vulnerable 
trees immediately around a badly infested one are almost 
sure to be attacked, while those even 50 metres away 
are comparatively safe. It is moderately attracted to 
light, but not so strongly that any great numbers 
can be destroyed by bonfires. It needs no food, and 
enters a tree only to find a place to lay eggs, or a place 
of refuge. 

The methods to be employed in fighting Rhyncho- 
phorus follow obviously from the fact that it cannot 
lay its eggs in sound trees, but only in those where the 
softer tissues have already been exposed in some way. 
Coco-nuts usually become susceptible to its attacks in 
one of the following ways : 

1. By mechanical injury done by men. 

2. By previous attack by other insects. 

3. By injury by violent storms. 

4. By being burned. 

1. Mechanical injury is done to trees, by those who 
think they are taking care of them, in several ways, as 
by cutting notches in the trunk, in cutting down the 
nuts, and by unduly clearing the crowns. While the 
general view in English colonies has been that these 
beetles attack the top of the tree directly, Banks thinks 
it no less normal for them to enter through lesions in 



DISEASES AND PESTS 79 



the base of the tree, or where steps have been cut in 
the trunk. The latter cases are comparatively rare but 
certainly happen. If steps are cut deep enough to 
expose any soft wood, they furnish a possible place for 
the beetles to lay their eggs ; therefore they should 
be cut as shallowly as will serve the purpose, and 
should not be made within 1^ metres of the 
height at which the nuts are borne. The first few 
crops of nuts from a tree should be harvested without 
cutting any steps, whatever may be done later. Nuts 
intended for the manufacture of copra or oil would 
better always be left on the tree until they fall of their 
own accord. 

The red beetle rarely or never enters a tree through 
the wounds normally made in cutting down nuts, even 
if they are cut young for immediate local use. But 
the careless use of a knife in gathering nuts sometimes 
results in making wounds in which the eggs can well 
be laid. 

It was formerly generally believed that the careful 
removal of all dead matter from the crown, and of all 
hanging leaves, was an important part of good sanita- 
tion. Experience has amply shown that such treatment, 
except in exceptional cases, is a costly blunder. The 
fibrous leaf-bases, which at first are complete sheaths, 
are the natural protection of the young, still soft wood, 
and at first of all the underlying structures which have 
not yet become woody. Nature is not wasteful. If 
the fibrous stuff is cut away before it would naturally 
fall, the tree is deprived of a protection which it needs, 
and the advantage is given to the beetles. 

Two illustrations of the effect of too much injudicious 
care have appeared in Ferguson's Coco-nut Planter's 
Manual ; they are copied here from p. 38 of the fourth 
edition : 

On one property the trimming system had been carried on 
for years, till, indeed, more than one-third of the original 
plants perished, before the estate was ten years old, and they 
were going at the rate of three trees weekly. The work of 



80 



THE COCO-NUT 



trimming was stopped for the reasons offered above ; the loss 
of trees continued for some time afterwards, but at the end of 
six months it had entirely ceased. On another property, 
beetle-men had been employed for ten years, and trees were 
being constantly lost ; from the day that the " beetlers " were 
discontinued two trees perished within the month, and not 
another was lost in the subsequent seven years. 

2. In spite of Vosselers doubt, 1 the general feeling 
must be taken as correct, that the red beetle commonly 
makes use of the holes made by the rhinoceros beetle, 
in securing a proper place to lay eggs. Where both 
kinds of beetles occur, the adults of both can often be 
found in the same holes. Even if the red beetles enter 
these holes for the sake of shelter, it is hard to imagine 
that, finding themselves in a suitable place for laying 
eggs, they refuse #o deposit them. I have seen groves 
in which both beetles were too common, but in which 
practically no trees not attacked by the rhinoceros 
beetle contained any adults or larvae of the red one. 
As the rhinoceros beetle can enter a sound tree, but the 
red one cannot, the conclusion forces itself that injury 
by the former is a necessary condition for any attack 
by the latter. Oryctes, the rhinoceros beetle, is not 
itself as dangerous or destructive a pest as is Rhyncho- 
phorus ; but, where both are present, the campaign 
should be directed first against the former. While it 
remains common, the Rhynchophorus will be beyond 
our reach, and when it has been disposed of, if other 
conditions are as they should be, Rhynchophorus will 
disappear. 

Small insects, making holes too fine to permit the 
entrance of the red beetle, might still furnish places for 
the latter to lay their eggs ; but I have not known of a 
case in which this happened. 

3. Storms do not, in themselves, do as much injury 
to coco-nuts as is often supposed ; in fact, it would be 
very difficult to find another crop as little liable to 
damage by them. But by breaking the petioles, tearing 

1 Der PJlanzer, 3 (1907), 304. 



DISEASES AND PESTS 81 



the fibrous bases, and sometimes causing splits in the 
trunks, very severe storms make it possible for the red 
beetles to lay their eggs in many trees, and so to 
multiply rapidly. This is obvious, and the fact and its 
consequences may not rarely be observed. 

Mr. E. E. Green reports a remarkable increase in the 
number of red beetles after a cyclone which visited the 
Batticaloa district of Ceylon in March 1907. The 
beetles had been systematically collected since 1903, 
the number decreasing steadily ; the records for various 
plantations being complete by months. In one case, 
where 199 had been caught in May and June of 1906, 
1906 were captured in the same months of 1907. In 
another instance the increase in the same months was 
from 128 in 1906 to 3889 in 1907. This increase was 
almost entirely in the number extracted from the stand- 
ing trees, taking no account of those blown down, in 
which also the beetles can of course multiply. 

The only way in which this kind of damage can be 
prevented is by having no beetles at hand to take 
advantage of storms. 

4. Burning away the fibrous leaf-bases must be 
expected to result in the same way as their removal by 
any other means. In Cuba one of the methods of 
combating bud rot is by scorching the crown by burn- 
ing the light and inflammable stuff. Since Rhyncho- 
phorus palmarum is the chief insect enemy of the tree 
in that region, such treatment appears decidedly risky. 
In the Old World I have never heard of such treatment 
as intentional. If young plantations are uncultivated, 
they will go into grass for a time, the grass ultimately 
being supplanted by brush. As long as they are in 
grass fire is likely to go through them on any dry day. 
In the land bought by the Philippine College of Agri- 
culture was a small grove which was partly run 
through by fire in March 1909. The work of red 
beetles was evident within three months, and in eight 
months every tree reached by the fire was apparently 
moribund. Outside of the burnt area there was no 

G 



82 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



sign of red beetles except in occasional trees where 
Oryctes furnished a place to enter. 

Young trees are most liable to damage by fire, both 
because a grass fire will not reach the inflammable 
sheaths of tall trees, and because old groves are not 
likely to be in dry grass. 

The most of the means to be employed in prevent- 
ing damage by Rhynchophorus have already been made 
clear. If the eggs are laid in a tree, the metamorphosis 
may be complete by the time the presence of the insect 
becomes evident ; and even if the larva chances to gnaw 
leaves about to grow into sight, and so betrays itself 
early, it is often impossible to extract it without 
practically destroying the tree. Every effort must 
therefore be made to prevent the laying of the eggs, 
and the measures by which this is to be done follow 
from a knowledge of the ways in which the tree becomes 
susceptible. 

Trees attacked by Rhynchophorus may die as a 
direct and immediate result if the larvae happen to 
destroy the growing point. This does not usually 
occur, the larvae more often missing the embryonic tip, 
and the tree escaping from the first attack with less 
than fatal injury. Such trees are unquestionably left 
more subject to subsequent attacks. They are also 
obviously rendered less productive ; for nuts are made 
by the use of food manufactured in the leaves, and 
when the leaf-surface is reduced the number of nuts is 
necessarily diminished. So the planter who waits to see 
if trees will recover from an attack by the red beetle can 
expect them at best to be for some time weakened, and 
liable to renewed attack. 

Worse than this, from such trees a crop of beetles 
escapes to seek a chance to attack other trees. The 
attempt to save one tree may thus result in the loss of 
many. It is better policy to destroy a tree as soon as 
it is known to be infested by the red beetle, without 
even waiting for the maturing of nuts already so 
old that they would surely ripen if given a chance. 



DISEASES AND PESTS 83 



If this practice is strictly followed, and a good 
watch is kept for signs of the beetle, there is a good 
chance that they can be exterminated in any locality, 
and this is more than can reasonably be hoped for in 
the case of most pests. British planters in Ceylon are 
so convinced of the soundness and necessity of this 
policy that, besides destroying their own infested trees, 
the more enterprising also destroy any others in the 
neighbourhood, if necessary paying damages for them. 

As to methods of destruction of trees, my own con- 
fidence is all in the prompt and thorough use of fire. 
Burying, and submerging in water, are sometimes 
proposed as alternatives to burning. Burning is not 
easy, and unless there is more rubbish than ought to 
be at hand, and unless the time is very dry, it usually 
requires the use of kerosene. All the soft parts of the 
crown must be burned ; the length of this soft part 
depends upon the age and vigour of the tree. If the 
rhinoceros beetle also must be reckoned with, the whole 
trunk must ultimately be destroyed, but this need not be 
done so promptly. Burying the trunk may be effective 
when only the red beetle is concerned, but cannot be 
relied upon in the case of Oryctes. Submerging will 
prevent the use of the dead wood as a place to lay eggs, 
but cannot be trusted to prevent the escape of beetles 
already mature or nearly so. 

Three other methods of fighting Ehynchophorus are 
in use : 

1. Extracting the beetles or larvae from their 
burrows and from places of concealment on the tree. 
This method is widely used in combating Oryctes, and 
adult red beetles are sometimes caught with the black 
ones, both kinds in the same holes. So far as larvae 
and beetles in the burrows are concerned, it is not as 
practicable against the red beetle alone as against the 
black, if used in proper conjunction with other sanitary 
measures. However, Green says, in commenting on 
the catches from 1903 to 1907 : " It is noticeable that 
up to the present year the annual total of captures of 



84 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Rhynchophorus — not of Oryctes — has steadily decreased, 
a fact which seems to prove conclusively the value of a 
systematic collection of the insects." 

2. The use of bait and traps. This method has 
found considerable favour in the American tropics, 
where R. palmarum, called the palm weevil, is a 
dangerous pest. Some palm of less value than the 
coco-nut, which the weevil is known to attack, is felled 
and cut into convenient lengths, say 1 metre, and 
some of these are split. The open pieces are exposed 
until the soft heart becomes sour, which is likely to be 
in one day. They are then watched, and beetles are 
killed as they are attracted by the sour smell. A test 
of this method is reported in the Trinidad Bulletin of 
Miscellaneous Information, April 1905. The tree was 
cut February 2, and the first beetles came to it forty- 
eight hours later. They were collected mornings and 
evenings, the numbers being : 

February 4 ... 23 



The trunk was opened February 18 and a number 
of larvae were found. The pieces of the tree sacrificed 
for bait should of course be burned before any insects 
can possibly mature in them. 

Mr. J. T. Seay of British Honduras has perfected 
this method by furnishing a place for the insects to hide 
after laying their eggs. This can be done by putting a 
little pile of rubbish close to the bait. But a better 
way is to use the top of a palm and to have some holes 
in this in which the insect will hide. Mr. Seay uses 
the " salt-water pimento," which he cuts off just above 
the cabbage ; he then cuts a hole into the latter. The 
beetles hide in this hole and in the cavities within the 
leaf-bases. Such a trap lasts for a week or two and is 
then destroyed. Mr. Seay states "that 3 or 4 miles 
is no distance for the insects to fly in search of a sickly 
tree or one that is beginning to bear fruit, because then 



DISEASES AND PESTS 85 



the bark is soft, and the sun will make cracks and the 
sap, which is liked by all of these pests, oozes out in 
quantities." It also appears that the American palm 
weevil flies by day as well as by night. 

I have repeatedly used the remains of infested coco- 
nut trees as bait, removing every trace of insects and 
leaving the stub to attract others. From the second to 
the fifth day after the operation there is always a harvest 
of beetles in the little piles of rubbish deliberately left 
for them to hide in, when there is not room for all in 
cracks and holes in the stub itself. Such stubs must 
not be left, as in a few weeks they are full of larvae 
and pupae as far down as they have softened enough to 
be penetrable. 

Vosseler recommends, as bait, mangoes crushed in 
coco-nut milk and water, and exposed in shallow dishes. 

3. The use of poison. As the holes by which this 
insect enters the tree are not necessarily visible, and 
the channels in the tree become of appreciable size only 
as the larva grows, it is not usually practicable to kill 
the weevil in any stage by the use of poison. However, 
when the holes or channels are open, or opened, carbon 
bisulphide can be introduced and the hole plugged 
again ; any insects that the vapour can reach will die. 
This method has been tested, using carbon bisulphide, 
potassium cyanide, and hydrocyanic acid, against 
Rhynchophorus and Oryctes, at the Philippine College 
of Agriculture, without results of practical value. 
Yosseler advises the use of carbon tetrachloride. 

The larva of Rhynchophorus is said to be regarded 
as an especially choice morsel by various natives in 
America, where it is known as the gru-gru worm. The 
oldest report of these insects, dating back to 1726, 
emphasizes this usefulness. The larvae are eaten in 
Africa and Malaya also ; but, so far as I have personal 
knowledge, they are by no means esteemed a delicacy. 

Rhynchophorus palmarum seems to be a less serious 
pest than R. ferrugineus. Urich states that " young 
trees up to four and five years of age are those mostly 



86 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



attacked. Full-grown trees are not touched." " The 
remedies employed have been preventive, and consist 
in tarring wounds. ... As long as the bud is not 
damaged, the larvae are cutAand the wound dressed 
with tar." OL ' r • 

R. phoenicis is also a less-known pest because it is 
prevalent in countries where a great coco-nut industry 
has not yet been developed. 

Minor Beetle Pests, Weevils. — Beside Rhyncho- 
phorus, of which more than one species is found, Banks 
has encountered three other weevils in Philippine coco- 
nut trunks. One of these, Cyrtotrachelus, is a common 
enemy of the betel-nut palm, but sometimes attacks 
sound, or at any rate apparently healthy, coco-nuts. 
The trees found attacked have usually been those about 
to come into bearing. This weevil is much smaller 
than Rhynchophorus, the larva being 20 millimetres, 
the pupa 13 millimetres, and the cocoon about 35 milli- 
metres, and the adult 17 millimetres in length, snout 
included. The same measures to be taken in guarding 
against the two chief beetle pests will probably provide 
immunity against this one. 

The shot-hole coco-nut weevil is about the same size 
as the preceding, but does not form a cocoon. It is 
able to penetrate old hard wood, and is not uncommon, 
locally, in it. It is found in living trees, but rarely, if 
ever, in sound ones or sound parts of trees, and there- 
fore seems unlikely to do direct injury. The third of 
these insects, called by Banks the four-spotted coco-nut 
weevil, is decidedly smaller, the body of the adult being 
only 5 millimetres long. This also is found only in 
dead parts of the tree, where other enemies have gone 
before ; it probably never does direct damage. 

Sphenophorus obscurus, Boisd., is a weevil nearly 
related to Rhynchophorus, which is found in Polynesia, 
reaching as far north as Hawaii, and west to New 
Guinea. It is better known as a pest of sugar-cane, 
and is accordingly known as the " sugar-cane weevil." 
The insect is about 2 centimetres in length, with black 



DISEASES AND PESTS 87 



head and snout, and deep reddish-brown body with a 
black blotch behind the head, the thorax coarsely 
punctured above, and the hard wings striate. Damage 
is done by the larva, with regard to which the following 
quotation is made by Froggatt from Doane : 

The larger larva usually works closer to the base of the 
leaf, often killing the leaf by burrowing all through it. Some- 
times the larva will keep close to the edge of the leaf or go 
only as far as the centre, boring a tortuous chamber from half 
to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The burrow is 
usually filled with the chaff and castings, and the larva is 
usually found at the upper end of the burrow. Often from the 
blackened portion of the infested leaf the resinous exudation 
will be issuing in several places, making it appear that several 
larvae are at work in the same leaf. This is sometimes the 
case, but a single larva may bore along a leaf stem for 12 to 15 
inches, causing the exudation to flow in abundance from several 
openings, and making many large discoloured spots, beneath 
which the tissue is soft and decayed. The older leaves are 
usually attacked. After attaining its full growth the larva 
bores close to the surface, and constructs a rude oval cocoon 
out of the fibre that it has been eating, and transforms to the 
pupa stage, from which it later issues as the adult beetle. 
These cocoons may usually be found quite abundantly in the 
chaff at the base of old leaves or on the old leaves. In some 
instances the larva bores into the trunk of the tree for a short 
distance where the broad leaf-base joins the tree. In one 
instance I found the beetle quite abundant in and around the 
growing tip of a young tree that was dying, whether as a result 
of the work of the beetle or from some other cause I was 
unable to determine. 

The beetles are trapped in some places where they are 
especially destructive to cane sugar. 

American beetles closely related to those mentioned 
are Metamasius hemipterus, L., M. cinnamominus, and 
a species of Rhabdobaenus. These attack the trees under 
the same conditions as Ehynchophorus palmarum and 
can be guarded against in the same manner. Another 
enemy of coco-nuts and other palms in the same part 
of the world is the " bearded weevil," Rhina barbirostris. 
This attacks mature trees but not the younger ones. 



88 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



The larvae bore into the hardest parts of the stem, 
although scorching is said to make the tree more liable 
to their attack. Concerning this insect in Trinidad, 
Urich reports, " The methods of control adapted have 
been preventive, and consist in tarring the stem of trees 
that have been scorched. A mixture of white lime, to 
which is added 5 pounds of arsenate of lead to every 
50 gallons of solution is also used." Calanclra taitensis, 
Guerin, called by Froggatt " the small palm weevil," is 
a serious pest, at least in the Society Islands. Com- 
paring it with Sphenophorus, Doane says : 

The smaller weevil, C. taitensis, seems to be much more 
abundant, and, on account of its habits, is perhaps more in- 
jurious than the larger species. It is found more commonly 
boring in the edge of the base of the leaf-stem. Its presence 
is indicated, as with the larger species, by the presence of a 
gummy exudation mixed with castings. These are often in 
the shape of long twisted strings \ to \ inch long. As the 
larvae do not work so deep in the tissue of the leaf as do those 
of the larger species, the damage here is not very great, but 
when they work further out at the base of the leaflets, many of 
the leaflets are destroyed. A still more serious damage is done 
where the larvae attack the spikelets, killing them at the point 
of attack, and working towards the base. 

Preuss mentions still another weevil which, in German 
East Africa, bores into the young nuts. 

A considerable number of beetles related to Oryctes 
are also pests of the coco-nut. Strategus titanus is a 
large beetle found in the inflorescences of coco-nuts in 
Cuba, and believed locally to be injurious ; but Busck, 
who encountered it during his preliminary study of bud 
rot, believes it to be practically harmless. Strategus 
anachoreta is an enemy of the coco-nut in Trinidad, 
and is probably identical with the large beetle which is 
known in British Guiana as " the cockle." This is 
known in Trinidad as the " rhinoceros beetle," because 
of a horn-like projection on the upper part of the 
thorax of the male. It is 4 to 6 centimetres in length 
and chestnut-brown in colour. It is a broad, thick-set, 
powerful -looking beetle with strong front legs with 



DISEASES AND PESTS 89 



which it burrows into the ground or forces its way 
through woody tissues, The damage is done by the 
adult. " A hole is made in the ground near the stem 
of a young tree : those about two years old are usually 
selected. Externally this opening looks like a crab- 
hole — sometimes there is a heap of earth blocking the 
entrance ; — either of these indications is a sure sign 
that a beetle is at work. Generally one beetle only 
is found, and it is sufficient to destroy a tree if not 
removed in time." It may be killed or removed by 
means of a wire. Lime around the young trees is an 
effective preventive. It is suggested that some trees 
be left unprotected as bait and watched. The larvae 
live in rotten wood ; this stage lasts three to four years ; 
the pupal stage lasts four to six weeks. 

Xylotrupes gideon, of which X. nimrod is sometimes 
regarded as merely a form, is known well over the whole 
Malay-Polynesian region, and is reported as a pest in 
Java, the Philippines, and Solomon Islands. X. lorquini 
is reported from New Guinea. These very large insects, 
popularly known as " elephant beetles," are readily 
recognized by the two huge projecting horns, one from 
the head and one from the thorax, which reach forward 
like a pair of curved tongs. In its attack on the coco- 
nut the elephant beetle works in the same way as the 
rhinoceros beetle, and is fought in the same manner, by 
dragging the beetles out of their holes in the tree. 
Froggatt reports that a related species of the same 
genus collects on the jacaranda, an ornamental tree 
common along streets in the tropics, and suggests that 
this may accordingly be used as bait. There is a state- 
ment in circulation to the effect that elephant beetles 
do to palms more incidental damage with their horns 
than they do directly in feeding or burrowing. It is 
not easy to see how such an unwieldy insect does any 
damage at all. 

Another related beetle reported by Froggatt is 
Trichogomphus semilinki, Eitz., which he calls the 
" Solomon Island rhinoceros beetle." In appearance it 



90 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



is intermediate between Xylotrupes and Oryctes. It is 
reported to damage young coco-nut palms in the same 
manner as Xylotrupes. Chalcosoma atlas, L., is a huge 
beetle, in appearance still more remarkable than Xylo- 
trupes, which has been alleged to have larvae which 
attack the trunk of coco-nut in the Philippines. Of 
this I have no personal knowledge. 

Scapanes is another genus of huge beetles, each 
with three great horns. S, australis, Boisd., and S. 
grossepunctatus, Sternb., occur in New Guinea and 
destroy young trees two or three years old ; adult trees 
are not attacked. Barrett reports a species believed to 
be S. australis in the Philippines. 

Other beetles reported as injurious to coco-nut in 
New Guinea are Pimelopus (four species), Camelonotus 
quadrituber, and Oryctoderes latitarsis. 

Froggatt further reports as a pest which does a 
great deal of damage to young coco-nuts in the Solomon 
Islands Eurytrachelus pilosipes, Waterhouse, which he 
calls the " coco-nut stag beetle." The adult bores into 
the stem under the shelter of the base of the leaf-stalk. 
Froggatt anticipates that where the land as a whole 
has been brought into cultivation, and there is no fallen 
timber for these beetles to breed in, they will cease to 
be a serious pest. Eurytrachelus intermedius has also 
been mentioned as a pest of coco-nuts. Another stag 
beetle, Passalus tridens, is reported to have done much 
damage to coco-nuts in Demarara. 

Barrett, in a general resume of insect pests of the 
coco-nut, writes with especial respect of Melitomma 
insularis of the Seychelles and Madagascar region, 
which he calls " perhaps the most insidious trunk- 
infesting coco-nut pest in the world." " This insect 
enters the stem at the base, among the roots, and, 
partly by its own voracity, and, it is thought, by 
reason of ' caustic liquid ' excreted by the larva, soon 
kills the tree." 

Ambrosia beetles or Scolytidae are wood - boring 
beetles. They are found in various places, and in Cuba 



DISEASES AND PESTS 91 



are common enough in apparently healthy trees to be 
suspected of doing damage both directly and indirectly, 
in greater measure, as they furnish places for infection 
by fungi, or for the laying of the eggs of the palm 
weevil. 

Leaf- eating Insects (Bronthispa). — Of the small 
leaf-eating beetles of the family Hispidae several have 
been reported as serious local pests of the coco-nut. 
Among these, Froggatt describes Bronthispa froggatti 
as certainly the worst pest the planters of the Solomon 
Islands have to fight in their young plantations. This 
was first reported in 1903 from New Britain, where it 
was also a serious pest, and fully 50,000 plants were 
said to be already ravaged by it. Both the adult and 
the larva feed upon coco-nut leaves. 

The beetle measures up to half an inch in length from the 
tip of the antennae, which stand out in front, to the tip of the 
body ; but they are often much smaller and variable in size, 
and are very slender, not more than one-tenth of an inch across 
the broadest part of the back. 

The general colour is shining black, with the thorax and 
fore pair of legs dull yellow, and the second pair marked with 
yellow. The head is small, the eyes project on the sides, the 
front is produced into a lance-shaped point standing out be- 
tween the basal joints of the stout antennae. These antennae 
consist of eleven small segments, the basal ones irregularly 
rounded, the apical ones cylindrical and fitting close into each 
other. The thorax is almost square, slightly hollowed out on 
the sides, and curved round in front behind the eyes. The 
long slender body is covered with stout black wing-covers 
deeply and finely marked with parallel furrows, which are 
finely and deeply punctured, so that the whole surface is finely 
but regularly pitted. The tips of the wing-covers are depressed 
and rounded. 

The beetles crawl into the folds of the opening fronds as 
they are expanding, and under their shelter lay their small 
horn-coloured eggs, from which the curious flattened larvae 
hatch and feed upon the surface of the leaf. Both the beetles 
and larvae damage the leaves, and the whole life-history of the 
pest can be studied in a single frond. The larva, when full 
grown, measures just two-fifths of an inch in length ; it is 
slender, cylindrical, and somewhat flattened, with the segments 



92 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



well defined. It varies in colour from dull horn-yellow to dirty 
white. The head is small, lobed, with short jaws on the under 
side of the head ; the small legs are divided at the extremities, 
forming two rounded feet. The abdominal segments, eight in 
number, are furnished on the sides with a slender, rounded, 
fleshy tubercle ; and the anal segment has the tips flattened 
and produced into a pair of short, incurved, flat, caliper-like 
processes, which, curving inward, form a perfect crescent 
between them. They are ornamented with a few warty 
tubercles and fine hairs. 

The result of the attack is that the leaves are 
reduced to skeletons connected by dead membranes 
before they are well unfolded. When the attack is 
serious, the tree is of course weakened until the pro- 
duction of fruit is impossible. On the Solomon Islands, 
gangs of boys are kept at work killing the insects by 
shaking tobacco and soap wash into the still folded 
leaves. Preuss recommends the use of nitrogenous 
fertilizers to help the trees to resist attack. 

Koningsberger reports what may be the same insect 
and is at any rate nearly related to it as a serious local 
pest in Eastern Java. It is extremely flat, and there- 
fore able to penetrate between the leaflets, or the halves 
of a leaflet, even while the leaf is still tightly folded. 
It eats the epidermis next it and the green tissue, 
but not the other epidermis ; the latter soon dies and 
remains as a yellowish semi-transparent layer. At the 
same time the females deposit numerous small yellow 
eggs, from which equally flat larvae develop. These 
feed like the adults. They pupate in the same place, 
and a new generation of beetles flies out in eight to 
ten days. 

A leaf attacked by numerous beetles and larvae is 
too weakened to unfold ; or, if it still unfolds, is value- 
less to the tree. By the destruction of many successive 
leaves the tree may be killed. However, the work of 
the pest is conspicuous, and if the infested young leaves 
are removed and burned the trees are easily saved. The 
beetles are about 9 millimetres long and 2 millimetres 
wide and, as already said, very flat. The head is 



DISEASES AND PESTS 93 



yellowish-brown, and has a small spine-like prominence 
between the black antennae. The full-grown larva is 10 
to 1 1 millimetres long and of a yellowish-white colour. 

In the related genus Promecotheca three species 
are known as coco-nut pests, P. cumingii in the 
Philippines, P. antiqua in New Guinea, and P. 
opicicollis in the New Hebrides. The Philippine 
species has been studied by Jones, 1 who describes it as 
follows : 

The beetles vary from 7*5 to 10 millimetres in length, ex- 
clusive of the antennae, and from 1*6 to 2 millimetres in width. 
The thorax is much narrower than the slender body. General 
colour brown ochre, head small, eyes and mandibles black, 
elytra finely punctate in parallel furrows. Antennae 11-jointed, 
tarsi broad and flat, one larger spine on inner side of each 
femur with a corresponding depression on the tibia. The body 
is pilose. 

The beetles are sluggish and do not fly readily upon being 
disturbed. They rest by chnging lightly to the under side of 
the leaf with the antennae extended forward close to the leaf. 
They crawl about promiscuously on the leaves of the young 
coco-nut and feed extensively upon the tissues between the 
veins of the leaflets. The injury has the appearance of a slight 
cut, but does not entirely penetrate the leaf. 

The damage done by the larva is greater than that by the 
adult, as a single larva will excavate a place in the leaf from 
12 to 16 millimetres long and 1J to 3 millimetres wide. 
The tissue attacked soon dies and becomes brown, and in badly 
infested areas the numerous dead leaflets give the palm the 
appearance of being unhealthy or half dead ; where the trees 
are used for decoration this effect is very displeasing. The 
palm is also injured by the loss of these leaflets. 

The eggs are inserted by the female beetles just beneath 
the epidermis of the leaf. They are deposited singly, and 
hatch in from 13 to 15 days. The period of incubation varies 
but little. The larvae upon hatching enter the parenchyma of 
the leaf and here spend the entire larval period, which is about 
32 days. They do not form any pupal cell, but pupate in the 
middle of the excavated chamber formed by feeding. The 
average length of the pupal stage is 7*5 days. The adult after 
emergence remains from 2 to 4 days within the food chamber 
before it bursts the epidermis of the leaf and escapes. 



Philippine Agricultural Review, May 1913. 



94 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



In the Philippines this pest is largely controlled by 
its natural enemies. Jones found two hymenopterous 
parasites, one on the egg and the other on the larva 
and pupa, which together, in a hundred leaflets ex- 
amined by Jones, were killing about half of the pests. 
The infested leaflets are readily recognized, and may be 
easily removed and burned ; or the adults may be picked 
off by hand, and the leaflets infested by other forms 
removed and burned. 

P. antiqua is reported as so serious a pest in New 
Guinea that trees over considerable areas are made 
entirely unproductive for a year or more. It attacks 
even the oldest and tallest trees. It has a dark brown 
head and hard wings (elytra), which are three-fifths 
orange and two-fifths dark blue. P. opicicollis has black 
elytra each with a yellow spot. In New Guinea trees 
standing in alang-alang (cogon) grass are especially 
subject to attack and the beetles seem to disappear when 
the grass is eradicated. 

Oxycephala froggatti, mentioned by Preuss, may be 
identical with Bronthispa froggatti. 

Lepidoptera. — A number of moths and butterflies 
attack the coco-nut, but are up to this time known only 
as local enemies. Koningsberger has published in the 
Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture of the Dutch 
Indies, 1908, an account of two of these. Brachartona 
catoxantha is a small moth, measuring only 14 or 15 
mm. with its wings expanded. It is uniformly brown 
above. Beneath, the thorax, abdomen, and legs are 
yellow ; the fore wings brown with yellow patches at 
base and apex of costa ; and hind wings brown, with 
the costal area yellow and the veins on it black. The 
caterpillar is about 10 mm. long. The head and thorax 
are yellowish brown ; the body greyish brown with a 
black dorsal streak bordered by white and finely hairy. 
The caterpillars are found on the upper side of the 
leaves. They eat through to the nether epidermis, 
but leave the latter, thus making brown spots, which 
are 1 to 2 mm. wide and up to 30 mm. long. When 



DISEASES AND PESTS 95' 



a tree is badly infested, these spots almost cover the 
leaves. The leaves then curl up, and so furnish the 
caterpillars a place for pupation. 

Brachartona has recently made itself seriously felt 
in the Federated Malay States. It goes through four 
generations in eight months, by which time it multiplies 
enough to become locally epidemic. Then it disappears, 
having become abundant enough to let its own enemies 
multiply in excess. When the Brachartona is almost 
exterminated, its parasites die off, and after perhaps 
two years the Brachartona reappears as a pest. If it 
can be detected as it reappears it can probably be con- 
trolled by spraying with kerosene emulsion ; but this will 
demand careful watching, as its work is not conspicuous 
until it has multiplied greatly. 

The other pest reported by Koningsberger is Hidari 
irawa. The caterpillars of this butterfly are reported 
as very numerous at Sawah Loenta, on the west coast 
of Sumatra, feeding upon the leaves of the coco-nut. 

From the Philippines likewise two of these insects 
have been described by Banks. One of these is a 
skipper butterfly, Padraona chrysozona, Plotz. Quoting 
Banks, Philippine Journal of Science, 1906 : 

During the months of September and October many of the 
leaflets of small coco-nut trees of from 6 to 15 feet in height 
are partially destroyed. Certain of these leaflets have their outer 
edges sewn together by means of a pure white silk which is 
decidedly elastic, so that the leaf may be pulled slightly apart 
without tearing the fastening. Inside these folds the light 
yellowish-green caterpillar, having a chitinous head, somewhat 
darker than the body and boldly marked with a very regular 
pattern, is encountered. 

Toward the latter part of October the semi-active pupae are 
found in these " cradles," partially covered and surrounded by 
a snow-white flocculent substance, which has a wax-like feel. 

The adult insect is 15 to 16 mm. in length, a bright 
yellow ochre in colour, with dark -brown markings. 
The eggs are deposited, usually singly, on the under 
surface of the leaf ; they hatch after seven or eight 



96 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



days. The larva is at first 3*5 mm. in length, and 
grows to about 45 mm. This insect lives upon the 
betel-nut palm also. It is preyed upon and held in 
check by hymenopterous parasites, and Banks does 
not believe that it is likely to become a dangerous 
pest. 

He holds the same opinion regarding the moth 
Thosea cinereomarginata, the larva of which is a slug- 
caterpillar, easily recognized by haviug along each side 
of the body a row of spinous tubercles. Like the 
insect just described, this does moderate injury to coco- 
nut leaves in Manila. 

TJwsea and Padraona, and with them Erionota 
thrax, another of the skippers, are known in the 
Federated Malay States. 

Another butterfly, whose larvae live upon the leaves 
of the coco-nut in the Philippines, is Amathusia 
phidippus. The same insect is found in British India, 
where its food-plant is also the coco-nut. It is not a 
common butterfly here, and is not known anywhere to 
do very great damage. Jb. Coert, nevertheless, states 
that in the Dutch East Indies the larvae sometimes 
become numerous enough to defoliate trees (see Wilborn, 
in Bull Kolon. Museum, Haarlem 41 (1909), 122). 

Very serious local damage is reported by Schultz, 
the horticulturist of the Canal Zone, as done to the 
coco-nuts of Panama by Brassolis istlimia. In May 
1906 the majority of the coco-nut trees in the vicinity 
of Ancon were defoliated by its caterpillar. Trees 
which had been prolific for several years were left with 
their bare petioles and midribs looking like skeletons. 
Some trees recovered, under special care ; others were 
cut down. In September the caterpillars again appeared 
in smaller numbers. " All coco-nut trees were, there- 
fore, sprayed with a strong solution of arsenate of lead, 
a most tedious and troublesome, although very effective, 
method of fighting these insects, in view of the height 
of the trees, which were mostly from 30 to 35 feet." 
Rain washed the poison off within a few weeks, but all 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 



97 



the insects on the treated trees had been killed. It has 
since reappeared. 

The larvae feed only at night. At daybreak they 
retire into a tough nest, shaped like a narrow bag, from 
30 to 60 cm. in length, in which 700 or more often 
crowd together. The nest is made with the help of the 
pinnae, and where their tips meet, at the lower end, is 
slightly open. As many as four nests are sometimes 
found in one tree. The larvae are 5 to 10 cm. long. 
They can entirely strip a bearing tree of its foliage in a 
few nights, and give it such a check that under con- 
ditions otherwise most favourable two or three crops 
are lost ; " And it is no rare occurrence that a tree dies 
outright or becomes so weak that it cannot resist fungoid 
and other diseases, and gradually perishes." 

The chrysalis stage lasts twelve to sixteen days. 
The larva of an apparently dipterous insect is parasitic 
on the chrysalis, and helps to hold the pest in check. 
The simplest and easiest way to fight this pest is by 
cutting down and burning the nests ; but watchfulness 
and diligence are necessary if this method is to be really 
effective. Brassolis has also been found on the royal 
palm, and some other trees of the same family. 

A related species, Brassolis sophorae, has been 
known in Trinidad since 1892. It is scattered over 
the whole of that island, and while not common, is 
becoming more so. The adult flies at dusk. The life 
cycle lasts nine weeks. Like B. isthmia, it skeletonizes 
the leaves, and is therefore conspicuous. On some 
estates it has been held in check by cutting down the 
nests and crushing the larvae, at the cost of two cents 
per nest. In the same island the larvae of Hyper chiria, 
called the " spiny coco-nut caterpillar," skeletonize the 
leaves. This species is gregarious, but not nest-building. 
So far it is not a serious pest. 

Omiocles blackburni, "the palm-leaf roller," is a 
Pyralid moth reported on coco-nuts in Hawaii. Preuss 
reports larvae apparently of the same family, which 
destroy young nuts in New Guinea. A Tineid moth, 

H 



98 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



large for its group, with light-grey, black-spotted wings, 
occurs on coco-nut leaves in Ceylon. 

Locusts. — Prudhomme states that the most of the 
coco-nut plantations of North- Western Madagascar have 
suffered seriously from these insects, being completely 
defoliated, and made unproductive for at least six 
months after the flight. I have seen a young grove 
in Mindanao thoroughly stripped, and so set back that 
fruiting must have been delayed for two years. Any 
country subject to visitations of this pest is likely to 
have similar experience. 

However, the coco-nut is no favourite food of the 
locusts, which will first consume such crops as rice, 
maize, and cane. Getting rid of locusts is a big general 
economic problem, likely to be solved in- any country 
only by reforestation, and extending the land in cultiva- 
tion, until wild grass and brush land, the locusts' 
breeding -place, disappear. When the scourge is bad 
enough to involve the coco-nuts, something may be 
accomplished in a small way by means of fire, noise, and 
agitation ; but the locusts are likely to have their meal. 

Busck notes the common occurrence of the egg-holes of 
a large Cicada on the stalks of the lower leaves of Cuban 
coco-nuts, but states that the damage is insignificant. 

Graeffea cocophaga. — Graeffea cocophaga, called 
by Froggatt "the coco-nut phasma," one of the walking- 
sticks, is known from New South Wales northward and 
eastward across Polynesia. It feeds on coco -nuts 
wherever they are found, and has temporarily done 
considerable damage in Samoa and on the Hervey island. 
In spite of its size, fully 20 centimetres in length, the 
insect is inconspicuous because of its colour. As a rule, 
it is kept closely in check by its natural enemies ; but 
when these happen to be temporarily wanting, it is 
capable of rapidly doing great damage. When they 
become a pest in plantations, Froggatt suggests burning 
the ground over or cultivating it as a means of 
destroying the most of the eggs. 

Aspidiotus destructor. — Of the various scale insects 



DISEASES AND PESTS 99 



occasionally found on the coco-nut, this is the only one 
ever found in large numbers or charged with doing 
serious damage. In the same genus, Aspidiotus, are 
the San Jose scale, and a number of other pests of trees 
of temperate lands. A. destructor is probably found 
in every land where coco-nuts are grown. Beside the 
coco-nut, it has a considerable number of other common 
hosts, among them the papaya, annatto, betel-nut, guava, 
and mango. 

The worst reports concerning this scale have come 
from the Caroline Islands, the staple crop of which is 
the coco-nut. The scale is said to have been introduced 
from the Philippines in 1892, and a few years later to 
have cut the crop in half. It is especially destructive 
in dry places and during dry seasons. Dryness favours 
the insects directly, because they do not endure great 
humidity well ; and indirectly, because drought weakens 
the host. Trees of all ages are attacked, and those 
weakened by any kind of unfavourable conditions are 
sooner or later killed. On arid ground whole groves lose 
their natural green colour and turn a pale yellow, due 
to the loss of the green tissues and the layers of scales 
on the leaves. It is the local practice to sell the whole 
nuts. No part of the crop is returned to the soil, which 
grows steadily poorer, so that old groves have not the 
proper strength to resist any attack. Young trees 
planted under old ones do not receive light enough to 
make them vigorous and able to resist. And the native 
custom of eating the sweet "foot" of their seed-nuts 
ensures the weakness and susceptibility of the seedlings. 

It should by no means be assumed that vigorous 
trees are less subject than weakly ones to the attacks 
of all pests ; but in the case of the scale this rule would 
seem to be a good one. Therefore, to guard against 
injury from it the trees should be amply spaced, provided 
with plenty of water in the ground, and, if necessary, 
cultivated and manured. If other pests or diseases are 
present, it must be remembered that these will help the 
scale to destroy the trees. 



100 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Being a sucking insect, the scale will not eat any 
poison. If it is deemed necessary and worth while to 
attack the scale directly, the ordinary kerosene emulsion 
will in most places be the best weapon. As the 
emulsion is to be applied to the leaves it must not be 
too strong. An emulsion of palm oil and soda is safer ; 
it has been used in Togo and found entirely effective, 
but at an altogether prohibitive cost. This will be 
found true in general of any direct attack on the scale. 
It is of course possible to spray a bearing coco-nut tree, 
or to enclose it in a tent or balloon and disinfect it with 
hydrocyanic acid — a method gaining in favour in the 
fight against the San Jose scale ; but such measures 
are not in general practically worth while. The treat- 
ment is very costly in proportion to the value of the 
tree ; if the tree is healthy it is not likely to suffer 
much from the scale ; and if it is susceptible it is not 
worth much, and is sure to be attacked again. 

The chief check on the coco-nut scale is furnished by 
its natural enemies, foremost of which are lady-birds of 
the genus Chilocorus. In Cuba, in the Philippines, 
and probably in almost the whole range of the scale, 
these predaceous little beetles are found with it. If 
for any reason the scales become numerous, the food 
of their enemies thereby becomes abundant ; and the 
latter multiply and the scale is suppressed. 

Schwartz, writing in Der Tropenpflanzer, has urged 
that the attempt to combat any pest by means of 
parasites on it is of necessity futile, and that reliance 
can never be placed on natural enemies to prevent injury 
from a pest. It is obviously true that its parasites 
cannot exterminate a pest. They reduce it in number 
until there is no longer support for the parasite, but 
the parasite is the one which will usually disappear 
first. Practically, however, it must be maintained that 
when a pest has been so reduced that its parasites can 
no longer maintain themselves upon it, it must itself 
have ceased to be a pest. It is beyond question that 
Aspidiotus destructor is itself kept in check in this way 




THE COCO-NUT SCALE, ASPIDIOTUS DESTRUCTOR. 
Photograph by the Bureau of Science, Manila. 

To face page 100. 



DISEASES AND PESTS 101 



in almost or quite all of the lands where it would other- 
wise be utterly destructive to the coco -nut industry, 
and that it is only in occasional outbreaks and these of 
limited duration that its damage is seriously felt. That 
other insect pests, among them the sister species 
Aspidiotus vastatrix, have also been restricted in the 
same manner, is abundantly proved by experience, in 
spite of the fact that no pest has ever been exterminated 
in this way. 

This scale has gradually worked its way eastward 
over Polynesia, and in some groups of islands as in 
Tuamotou, has done grave damage. In other islands 
it is held in check by its natural enemies, and in this 
way prevented from becoming dangerous. The means 
of its migration from island to island, as far as is 
known, are entirely human help. Unhusked coco-nuts, 
or young seedlings or parts of plants of other hosts of 
the scale, are carried in boats from island to island, and 
the living scales are in this way introduced. Under 
these conditions the obvious method of preventing its 
spread in this part of the world is by prohibiting 
the carrying in boats of unhusked coco - nuts or of 
anything else on which the scale might live. The 
natives of Takotu and Fakahina have vigorously en- 
forced a quarantine against the introduction of any 
living plant, even taro, and by such means have kept 
themselves immune against damage by the scale. 

In Trinidad Aspidiotus destructor is often pro- 
tected by the ant Azteca chartifex, and in this way is 
completely guarded against the attacks of its natural 
enemies. In such cases the scale insect does considerable 
damage to coco -nuts. To protect the coco -nuts the 
planters' business is to destroy the ants, and other 
insects will then destroy the scales. 

Not less than thirty other species of scale insects 
have been reported upon the coco-nut. None of these 
has ever been known to do it serious damage. Whether 
or not some of them might develop and become de- 
structive, if not destroyed by other insects, is unknown, 



102 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



and it need not be a cause of surprise if other scales 
from time to time do sporadic mischief. 

Related to the scales is the coco-nut mealy wing, 
Aleyrodicus. A. cocois was described long ago in the 
West Indies, and of late years has been noticed as a 
parasite of the coco-nut. It feeds on guava and other 
trees. 

A. destructor has recently been reported by Macke 
in the Philippine Agricultural Review for March 1912 
as a very serious pest in a limited district in Oriental 
Negros in the Philippines. It attacks trees six to eight 
years old. It does not kill them, but weakens them 
enough to prevent the production of fruit, and so 
renders them at least for the time being of no value. 
It is recommended that leaves which are infested be cut 
off and burned. As this is a sucking insect, kerosene 
emulsion is recommended if sprays are to be used. As 
an indication of governmental alertness, it may be noted 
that the governments of the Straits Settlements and 
Ceylon have quarantined against the Philippines to pre- 
vent the possibility of the introduction of this pest. It 
shows no present indications of being likely to spread 
at all, and no measures have been taken to confine it 
to the limited region where it has so far appeared. 

Termites. — As is true of the locusts, the white ants 
destroy whatever they find, without any predilection 
for the coco-nut. They therefore demand no discussion 
here. The nuts when planted are especially likely to be 
consumed, and their protection, so far as it is practicable, 
is taken up in the discussion of the seed beds. 

Even the lengthy list which has been given does 
not include all of the insects which have been stated to 
feed on the coco-nut. There are, for instance, several 
which are known to feed upon the flowers or pollen. 
None of these have done evident injury to the industry. 
As our knowledge concerning a large majority of the 
pests already mentioned has been obtained during the 
last decade, it must be expected that the next few years 
will show great additions to the list. 



Ill 



DISEASES AND PESTS 103 



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DISEASES AND PESTS 105 



MISCELLANEOUS PESTS 

The robber crab, Birgus latro, is a huge crab, 
sometimes more than a foot long, living on the coasts 
of the Islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. From 
Samar across Polynesia it is known as an enemy of the 
coco-nut. Its claws are so powerful that it can tear 
the husk from a ripe nut and break the shell, either 
directly or by beating it on a stone. It then eats the 
meat. A crab can consume two coco-nuts daily, but it 
is likely to have time for only one, as it works chiefly 
during the night. The crab not only destroys fallen 
nuts, but has been certainly known to climb trees and 
fell the nuts. The crab itself is a highly prized article 
of food, and is therefore kept in check where there are 
enough people to have coco-nut plantations. It has 
been suggested that with the decrease of the Polynesian 
population the crab may increase in number, enough to 
become a dangerous pest ; but as men will always live 
where there are coco-nuts, and there is no interest in 
coco-nuts where there are no people to care for them, 
this danger is probably not great. 

Snakes are not an enemy of the coco-nut, but are 
rather serviceable in that they kill rats. Where rats 
are abundant, snakes are not rarely found in the crowns 
of the trees, and have been known to kill men gathering 
nuts or toddy. 

Among birds a parrot is said to destroy young nuts 
in parts of Polynesia. The crow is an enemy of coco- 
nuts in most parts of the tropics. It picks holes in the 
young nuts for the sake of the water, and all nuts which 
have so been opened fall to the ground. In times of 
drought, when water is hard to find elsewhere, the 
damage done by crows becomes very serious. The most 
practical way of getting rid of them is to shoot as 
many as possible, and hang their carcasses in the 
trees. The same method will probably serve against 
the parrot. 

The huge fruit bats, sometimes called flying foxes, 



106 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



are found, in different kinds, throughout the range of 
the coco-nut, and occasionally molest the nuts. In the 
West Indies, and still more in East Africa, they do 
appreciable mischief to this crop, but in general they 
find other fruit more to their taste. Something can be 
accomplished by shooting in the plantations ; but where 
they are numerous it is necessary to find and break up 
their roosts. 

The rat is an enemy of the coco-nut in scattered 
localities throughout the tropics. The rat is most 
dangerous as a bearer of bubonic plague, and in places 
it has been found worth while to practically exterminate 
the animal for this reason. When this is done, the 
coco -nuts are freed from the pest at the same time. 
To get rid of rats in coco-nuts, the most practicable 
method is probably surrounding the trunk of each tree 
with a collar of tin or sheet iron, several inches wide, 
and attached so that it slants outward and downward 
from the tree. This treatment of the trees is costly 
enough, so that it is not worth while except where the 
damage done by rats is especially serious, or where the 
rats are being got rid of for sanitary reasons. 

The bandicoot, a huge rat reaching a length of as 
much as 2 feet, native in India and neighbouring 
regions, kills young trees outright for the sake of the 
tender internal structures. Trees four to five years of 
age are not yet free from such attack. A report from 
Ceylon tells of 150 trees killed in a few weeks, in a 
grove of 7 J acres. 

The porcupine attacks smaller trees and kills them 
in the same manner. Trees one and a half to two and 
a half years old are in greatest danger from this enemy. 

In the Malay States bears are classed with pigs and 
rats as dangerous enemies, and the three are said to do 
more damage than is now done by beetles. In Lower 
Perak bears recently destroyed more than a thousand 
trees in one year. 

Of the higher animals the most dangerous to the 
coco-nut is probably the hog. In the coco-nut regions 



DISEASES AND PESTS 107 



of the old world, the wild hog is almost everywhere 
present, and may be expected to destroy all young 
coco -nuts which it can reach. In the Philippines 
many plantations of young trees have been almost 
wiped out by these pests. Something can be done in 
keeping them away by means of dogs, but this kind of 
protection usually proves ineffectual where wild hogs 
are numerous. Coco-nuts are not safe unless protected 
by good fences, and a fence to be reasonably hog-tight 
must be of barbed wire, with at least six wires, the 
lower ones not more than four inches apart and close to 
the ground, and very tightly stretched. If such a fence 
is built, it should then be patrolled at intervals of not 
more than one week, to see that hogs do not open holes 
under it, and use them as runaways. Planters some- 
times have the idea that coco-nut seedlings are cheap, 
while the fence is expensive, and that it is economical 
to keep hogs away as well as possible with guns and 
dogs, and to replace such trees as are still destroyed. 
This policy may be trusted not to succeed. The hog is 
both wary and venturesome. If seedling coco-nuts can 
be reached, he is likely to find them, and where there is 
abundant bait many hogs may be expected. In the 
Philippines, instead of the effectual barb wire fence a 
light rope, or a heavy cord, is sometimes soaked in tar 
or in hog dung, and strung around the field to be 
protected ; for a time this affords reasonably efficient 
protection and can be renewed without much cost. 

In some places appreciable damage is done by 
monkeys and apes of various kinds. Very moderate 
use of a gun will usually drive such animals away. 



CHAPTER IV 



SELECTION AND TREATMENT OF SEED 

A. Varieties of Coco - nuts. — There have nowhere 
been any prolonged experiments in the breeding of 
coco -nuts; there are no seedsmen who deal in coco- 
nuts as seedsmen do in the seed of the field and 
garden crops of temperate countries ; and except the 
French Ministry of the Colonies, no government has 
carried on any systematic study of the different 
varieties, races, and strains which may be recognized 
among the coco-nuts, or made any effort to compare 
in a single place the races from different countries. 
There are very numerous names which are given 
in different parts of the world to more or less 
distinct varieties. Practically none of these forms are 
so well characterized and understood that it is possible 
to say positively whether or not similar varieties 
found in different parts of the world are identical. 
This much can be stated positively, that we do not 
know thoroughly distinct varieties which can be trusted 
to breed true, as for instance, the different races of 
horses or of maize will do ; but that there are in all 
countries, where the raising of coco-nuts is an important 
industry, strains or varieties which are suited to differ- 
ent purposes, or which are of unequal value. With 
regard to the suitability of different varieties for differ- 
ent climatic or soil conditions, nothing whatever is 
known. 

The best study of the varieties of coco-nuts which 

108 



SELECTION OF SEED 109 



has so far been made seems to me to be that undertaken 
in Madagascar by Prudhomme. The Colonial Govern- 
ment collected, by visiting different lands with well- 
developed coco-nut industry, the best-known varieties 
of Ceylon, Indo- China, and the islands of the Indian 
Ocean. These were grown together, but no publications 
have so far been made which show how the different 
varieties have behaved when grown side by side. 

As to the number of varieties which may be 
recognized, Prudhomme presents a plate showing 
photographs of twenty apparently very distinct forms. 
These represent the most conspicuously distinct varieties 
from Ceylon, Noumea, the Seychelles, and continental 
India. The list of names for varieties can be carried 
very much higher. Simmonds lists thirty varieties, 
and Shortt names thirty for Travancore alone. On 
the other hand, Watt reduces all the Indian forms to 
five varieties. Jumelle states that at least twenty-five 
varieties are known in Java. But both he and Hubert 
also state that there are more than forty known in 
the Philippines ; and this figure, if it has any basis 
whatever, can only rest on the number of dialect 
names which it is possible to distinguish. 

The more conspicuously different varieties are for 
the most part unquestionably duplicated in the different 
]ands where coco-nuts are grown. It is possible to 
distinguish varieties in various ways. For instance, 
the colour of coco-nuts varies from green to yellow 
and brown. The brown nuts and green nuts are very 
different in appearance ; but a careful analytical study 
made by Walker at San Eamon failed to show any 
constant differences whatever in size, in yield of copra, 
or in richness in oil. Different, then, as these nuts 
appear, there is no practical object whatever in dis- 
tinguishing between them. There is no reason to 
suppose that this statement does not apply equally 
in every part of the world. 

So far as any careful observations show, differences 
in form are likewise unimportant. It is easy in any 



110 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



place with many coco - nuts to find a considerable 
difference in shape. The extremes are from spherical 
to a form which is at least twice as long as it is thick. 
The tip may be indented or beaked. These differences 
are usually the characteristics of the tree, the nuts on 
a single tree being alike. They could therefore easily 
be maintained by selection and developed into race 
characters. But there is obviously no object in this 
so long as we do not know that any form is superior 
to any other. 

There are practically to be distinguished in the 
Philippines the following varieties : 

First : What may be called the San Ramon nut, 
because it is the characteristic tree of the San Ramon 
district, and because it has received especially careful 
study there. This is a very large and productive 
coco-nut. The average production, year after year, 
from the San Ramon hacienda and the neighbouring 
plantations, is one picul of copra from every 200 nuts ; 
at this rate, 3270 nuts are needed to produce one ton, 
or 2240 pounds of copra. Apparently the same nuts 
are found near Dapitan, on the same island, where 
they are known as " Romano." They are also in 
general cultivation in the coast district of the province 
of Pangasinan in Luzon, and are found occasionally 
in various parts of the Philippines ; and individual 
nuts, larger than any I have seen at San Ramon, have 
been exhibited from the islands of Marinduque and 
Bohol. This nut is found in various coco-nut countries, 
ranging at least from Ceylon across Malaya and Poly- 
nesia, and probably in the West Indies. But there 
are no records from any other part of the world of 
plantation averages showing such size of nut as those 
of San Ramon. There was one cutting for the entire 
plantation at San Ramon in 1905, when the average 
production was one metric ton of copra from every 
2800 nuts. This represents nuts more thau twice as 
large as the average for the whole world. Under 
reasonably favourable conditions the San Ramon nuts 



SELECTION OF SEED 111 



are produced in fairly large numbers — as many as a 
tree can well carry — of nuts of this size. One tree 
especially well situated produced during the entire 
time which I spent at San Eamon at the rate of 220 
nuts per year, 55 being the average for three successive 
cuttings three months apart, and understood to be the 
usual yield of this tree. 

Second : The Laguna nut. This is the ordinary 
coco-nut of the archipelago as a whole, and represents 
in creditable form the typical coco-nut of the whole 
world. Of these nuts the average number required is 
5600 for each metric ton of copra. As a basis for 
comparison with some other countries, it may be said 
that this would represent very satisfactory nuts in 
Ceylon ; that in Samoa 6000 nuts are in general re- 
garded as necessary for each ton ; that weighing of 
a few African nuts indicates 6450 as needed to make 
one ton of copra ; and that of the usual run of Trinidad 
nuts 6600 are required. It is to be understood that 
the dwarf varieties are not included in any of these 
figures. The Laguna nuts, like the San Eamon nuts, 
will occasionally produce fruit in five or six years ; 
under altogether favourable conditions a plantation 
should be in general bearing in eight years, the time 
under less favourable conditions being from ten years 
upward. These figures represent in general the time 
necessary in every country which has a great coco-nut 
industry. 

Third : The coco nino or baby coco-nut. This 
variety is found in the Zamboanga district accompany- 
ing the San Eamon nuts, from which it is locally 
exceedingly distinct. Seven thousand or more of 
these are required to produce one ton of copra. This 
coco-nut produces fruit at the age of four years, when 
the trunk is so short that the nuts can be collected for 
several years by persons standing on the ground. This 
nut has a rather thick and hard copra, and, as far as 
regards the number of nuts, is exceedingly productive. 
The tree which has already been mentioned, which in 



112 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



successive cuttings two months apart produced 112 
and 106 nuts, was of this variety. 

Fourth : The Pugai, a very dwarf nut. The name 
given here is a Bicol name. Specimens which I have 
from the province of Camarines have the nut proper, 
7 centimetres in diameter, surrounded by a husk not 
more than 2 centimetres in thickness. Apparently the 
same nut is known in Pangasinan as " Piligpog," and 
the same variety is found also in Zambales. These 
very small nuts are used as curiosities, one of the eyes 
being punched out to represent a mouth, so that the 
germinating end looks like the face of a monkey. They 
are also used as household banks, or they may be 
stuffed with candy or sweetmeats. The Pugai is likely 
to fruit in three years. There is also a variety, very 
likely identical with this, in India, which fruits in this 
time, and the same is true of a dwarf variety which 
was introduced from Ceylon to Madagascar. 

Forms intermediate between the coco nino and the 
Pugai are the dwarf nut known in the Visayan islands 
as " Dahili," and probably a nut known in Laguna as 
" Mangipod." The latter is said to produce fruit when 
the tree is so small that the cluster rests directly upon 
the ground. The dwarf Jaffna variety of Ceylon and 
Kalapa Babi of Java are like the Mangipod or identical 
with it. 

Clear cut and distinct as are the San Kamon nut, 
the Laguna nut, the coco nino, and the Pugai, when 
only these four forms are considered, it would probably 
not be difficult to collect in the Philippines an unbroken 
series without a break of 1 millimetre in diameter 
which should connect the largest nut and the smallest 
nut ; and while the extremes in some places are perhaps 
not so great, it would probably be easy to make an 
equally perfect series as far as it went in every country 
where coco-nuts constitute an industry. 

Among these varieties, or among the equivalent 
varieties known in another coco-nut country, choice 
must be made according to the market on which the 



IV 



SELECTION OF SEED 



113 



product must be placed. As a rule, the product will 
be marketed in the form of copra or of oil. In this 
case the first consideration is the total amount of copra 
or oil which a variety will produce, and next in im- 
portance to this is the size of the individual nuts. For 
between two varieties of approximately equal total 
productiveness, the one with the larger nut is decidedly 
the more valuable. This is for the obvious reason that 
it costs about as much to harvest, to husk, and to open 
a small nut as it does a large nut, and that therefore 
any given amount of copra can be manufactured more 
cheaply from large nuts than it can from small ones. 
It is further to be observed that the copra of large 
nuts will sell on a really discriminating market at a 
higher price than the copra of small nuts, because it 
can be marketed in larger pieces. The difference in 
economy in handling large nuts and small nuts is so 
great that even though one of the dwarf nuts, which in 
general mature several years sooner than the large nuts 
do, were approximately equally productive with one 
of the very large varieties, it would still in the long 
run not be economical to select the dwarf nut for the 
manufacture of copra. 

If the product of the coco-nut is to be marketed 
in the form of jaggery (tuba, or coco-nut wine) or used 
to make alcohol, sugar, or vinegar, then the choice of 
variety will be entirely different. The value of the 
product is here independent of the size of the nut, but 
depends on the total vigour of the tree and on the 
number of fruit clusters which are formed. The number 
of these fruiting branches is often greater on the dwarf 
varieties than it is on the varieties with large nuts. 
Since the dwarf varieties are also productive at a much 
earlier age, it is obvious that these are the ones to be 
chosen. In the Philippines the coco nino is the most 
valuable nut for this use. 

There are also special uses of the coco-nut and 
special markets for some of the products. To meet 
these a special selection of the seed nuts or special 

i 



114 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP, 



choice of variety should be made. From various parts 
of the tropics whole coco -nuts are shipped to the 
temperate zones, and in different places these are 
bought on different terms. Where the local custom is 
to pay a given price per coco-nut, irrespective of the 
size, the planter who produces large nuts is at an 
obvious disadvantage, for small-fruit varieties almost 
always produce most nuts. If the nuts were bought by 
weight, each variety might be expected to sell according 
to its actual value ; but as a business procedure this is 
hardly possible, because of the variable amount of water 
contained inside the nuts. In Trinidad the nuts are 
sold by number, but only nuts above a certain minimum 
size will be accepted. For such a market, it is evident 
that the most desirable variety, from the point of view 
of the planter, is one which produces a crop which is 
uniformly just above the minimum marketable size. 

If coir is the product which is expected to be of 
greatest value, the qualities which make a nut good or 
bad are the amount, quality, and ease of preparation of 
the fibre. Some but not all of the varieties grown in 
the Maldive and Laccadive Islands produce a particu- 
larly good fibre. As a rule, the market prices are such 
that coco-nuts are worth more for copra or oil than for 
coir, and it is therefore not advisable, except under 
peculiar local conditions, to sacrifice anything in the 
copra producing power for the sake of superior fibre in 
the husk. 

In the Philippines, in the province of La Laguna 
and in the coco-nut district immediately around it, and 
locally elsewhere, there is found a peculiar variety 
known as " Makapund," which, instead of having a 
cavity inside the hard endosperm, has a moderately 
light but still firm tissue filling the entire interior of 
the nut. Makapund nuts themselves will not germinate, 
but are likely to be produced on trees which grow from 
ordinary nuts borne on trees part of whose nuts were 
Makapund. The Makapund nut is valued as a delicacy, 
and the individual nuts sell frequently at a price of 



SELECTION OF SEED 115 



20 centavos or more, on a market where the ordinary 
nuts cost 3 or 4 centavos only. In such a case it is 
evidently good business practice to select seed which 
will be likely to reproduce this peculiar freak. 

Other peculiar nuts for which there is a local and 
limited demand are those known as " Lono " in Albay, 
which have a soft endosperm instead of a hard one such 
as could be used well for the manufacture of copra ; 
and the variety whose husk is sweet so that it may be 
eaten like sugar-cane. This variety is called " Taban " 
in Pangasinan, " Cuyamis " in Northern Mindanao, and 
" Kalapa Tebu" in Java. Finally, the coco-nut, like 
other palms, is valuable for decorative purposes. For 
such use one or other of the dwarf varieties is usually 
chosen, because these are peculiar and unusual, and 
because of their early fruiting habit. In the island of 
Marinduque there is a variety which has the foliage 
as well as the nuts yellowish in colour. This variety 
is regarded as inferior for the ordinary uses of the 
coco-nut, but is valuable as a decorative tree. This is 
probably the Palamcotta of Simmonds' list. 

Still other varieties are recognized in certain limited 
localities in the Philippines. Thus in La Union, beside 
the ordinary nuts, large and small and of various 
colours, and the Taban already mentioned, there is a 
variety called " Tataguden," which has a thick husk 
used by weavers to clean their fibre. " Tutupaen " of 
the same locality is a small nut with very thick shell. 
These shells are beaten together and bets are placed on 
which will break the other. An especially hard-shelled 
nut of this variety is probably the highest priced of all 
coco-nuts. "Lupisan" is a large nut with very thin 
husk in the same province. A notably large number of 
varieties are distinguished by name in the Visayan 
island of Leyte. Among these are the Makapund, 
already mentioned ; " Agta," characterized by nuts so 
dark a green that they are almost black ; " Bulao," with 
pale-brown fruit ; " Busag," which is a very pale green ; 
" Burawis," which has both fruit and foliage a very 



116 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



shiny yellow; "Lund," identical with the " Lond " ; 
" Cayumanis," identical with the " Cuyamis " already 
mentioned ; and " Lincoranay," characterized by its low 
growth. The Lincoranay includes a number of minor 
varieties, having fruit red or green and large or small, 
including also " Dahili," and the still smaller nut called 
" Inano," which is not as extreme a variety as the 
" Pugai." 

To sum up what we know about the varieties of 
coco-nut : there are many forms to be found in all 
the leading coco-nut countries. How distinct these are, 
or how true they will breed, or how far they are 
identical in the different countries cannot at present 
be said. According to the form in which it is expected 
that the product shall be sold, different varieties may 
be entitled to first choice. If the product is to be sold 
in the form of copra or oil, the most desirable variety 
is one which at the same time has large individual nuts 
and a large total production. It would obviously be 
desirable to take the percentage of oil in the endosperm 
into account in selecting the seed, but this refinement 
is not at present possible. 

B. Selection of the Seed. — Whatever variety of 
coco-nut may be chosen, the seeds which are to be 
planted should be selected as the product of 
individual trees, and these trees should be very care- 
fully picked out and should be the ones which most 
exactly have the qualities which it is desirable to 
give to the entire plantation. There is no point in the 
coco-nut business where careful personal attention is 
more necessary or will prove more profitable than in the 
selection of the trees which are to furnish the seed nuts. 
Leaving out of account selection for any of the minor 
uses, and considering only the production of copra or 
oil, there is one safe and sufficient rule. Select the seed 
of the trees which are conspicuously more productive 
than are their neighbours which are growing under 

THE SAME CONDITIONS. 

If a tree is especially productive because it grows 



SELECTION OF SEED 117 



in especially rich soil, or because it is well watered or 
well fertilized, or because it is freely illuminated on all 
sides, then no matter how conspicuously productive it 
may be, there is no sound reason for choosing it as the 
source of seed. Seeds are chosen for their hereditary 
qualities, and a good environment cannot be inherited. 
A tree in the middle of a grove which regularly pro- 
duces more nuts or larger nuts than its neighbours, 
and is without any compensating drawback, should be 
selected as the source of seed, even though a tree at the 
outside of the same grove which is still more productive 
be passed over. 

The selection of nuts from piles or at any time after 
they are cut from the tree is not to be recommended. 
A tree bearing very few nuts is for that reason likely 
to bear large ones, and it will thus often happen that 
the selection of large nuts from the nut pile is in effect 
selection from trees which are not very productive. More- 
over, there is a| chance that the large nuts in general 
nut piles are from trees which produce large nuts because 
they grow under especially favourable conditions, and, 
as we have just seen, there is no reason whatever why 
the fruit of such trees, however good it may be, should 
be selected for propagation. 

When the trees which are to be the source of seed 
nuts have been selected, their nuts should be regarded 
as having a value which is based on the value of the 
trees they will produce, and as therefore out of all pro- 
portion to the value which they have as mere nuts. It 
is worth while to harvest these nuts with a care which 
would be economically impossible for nuts intended for 
the production of copra. It is well worth while to collect 
the nuts of a good seed tree by lowering them to the 
ground by hand in order that there can be no risk of 
breaking or cracking them. A cracked nut will never 
germinate. 

The nuts are ready to be used for seed at the same 
time at which they are really ready to be used for 
copra, that is, when a third or a half of the water in 



118 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the interior cavity has been used up. This condition 
can be recognized by the heaviness of the nut and by 
the noise which it makes when shaken. 

C. Germination of the Seed. — Under exceptional 
circumstances seed may be planted directly in the 
field before waiting for it to germinate. This could 
well be practised, for instance, if the land is already 
in cultivation with a crop which would not be inter- 
fered with by the presence of the coco-nuts, or with 
such a temporary crop that it would be difficult at 
any later time to stake the ground off and make the 
holes for planting the coco-nuts. In general practice, 
however, since some coco-nuts will not germinate and 
blanks will thus be left in the field, and because the 
coco-nuts in the field are exposed to the attacks of 
various enemies which can easily be guarded against 
while the nuts are kept in small beds, and since it 
is usually desirable to have the nuts germinating and 
getting their start at the same time that the land is 
being prepared to receive them, for all of these reasons 
the nuts are germinated collectively, and are subse- 
quently transplanted to their permanent places. 

The way that the nuts can best be handled while 
they germinate depends somewhat on the time which 
is to elapse before they are transplanted, and partly 
upon local climatic conditions. Leaving out of account 
the mere piling up of the nuts without order, which 
is mere shiftlessness, there are several ways which, under 
different conditions, may be recommended for the 
treatment of the seed nuts. One of these is to tie them 
in pairs and hang them over a pole. When this is 
done, the nuts will obviously receive no water from the 
soil ; it is therefore a method which can be employed 
only where the climate is exceedingly humid or where 
it is very easy to sprinkle the nuts at any time. If 
the nuts are hung where no water will fall upon them 
except artificially, the rate of germination is entirely 
subject to control. This method is therefore a good 
one when it is desired that the germination should be 



NUTS HUNG UP IN PAIRS TO GERMINATE. 
Photograph, Reimold. 




NUTS STACKED ROUND A POLE TO GERMINATE. 



To face 'page 118. 



SELECTION OF SEED 119 



slow. Or if it is known for any reason that trans- 
planting will be long delayed, this method is to be 
recommended, because the nuts are so placed that the 
development of the roots is hindered more than the 
growth of the plumule. Another method essentially 
like this, which is sometimes practised in the Philippines, 
consists in putting the nuts up in the form of a hollow 
cylinder around the posts which support the houses. 
They are then dependent on an artificial supply of 
water, so that germination may be hastened or made 
slow as is wished, and likewise so that the development 
of the root is relatively checked. 

The use of seed beds is far commoner than that of 
the methods which have just been described. It has 
the advantage that the nuts require less attention, and 
the disadvantage that the development is under less 
perfect control. It is, moreover, obvious that the nuts 
can be more perfectly protected against hogs, white 
ants, or any other enemies if they are hung up or tied 
up under the house than if they are in any other 
position. 

The arrangement and care of the seed beds, and the 
method of planting the nuts in them, are determined 
by the length of time that the nuts are expected to 
remain there. From the standpoint of the nut, it is 
desirable that it be transplanted to the field and 
permitted to begin the development of a permanent 
root system at as early an age as possible. In practice, 
however, transplanting may have to be delayed while 
the land can be prepared to receive the nuts, or because 
of the difficulty of protecting the seedlings after they 
are transplanted, or for still other reasons. Germination 
itself requires from three to six months. The most 
rapid development can be expected if the seedlings are 
transplanted into the field before the plumule exceeds 
15 centimetres in height. If it is to be expected that 
this practice will be followed, then the seed beds need 
not be cultivated to a depth of more than 20 centimetres, 
unless deeper cultivation will result in a better supply 



120 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



of ground water, and therefore in an economy of 
sprinkling ; and the nuts ought not to be buried for 
more than a third of their own thickness. In such case 
also the nuts may be placed in contact, side by side. 
If, on the other hand, it is anticipated that the nuts 
must remain in the seed bed for a year or more, then 
the soil in the seed bed ought to be worked fine to a 
depth of at least 30 centimetres. The nuts may well 
be buried to about their entire thickness, and there 
should be left between the neighbouring nuts a space, 
the width of which must depend upon the size which 
the seedlings will reach before they are transplanted. 

Under all conditions it is desirable to choose for 
the seed bed a place where water is easily available 
for sprinkling, where the ground is well drained, and 
where there is light shade. The nuts should be 
placed on the side ; and it is probably worth while, in 
order to facilitate germination and to guard against 
occasional distortion of the young shoots, to slice off 
a piece the size of the palm from the husk, near the end 
at which germination occurs, and to place the nuts with 
this cut surface on the upper side. The cultivation 
of the seed bed and the ground immediately around it 
should be thorough enough to protect it from any 
danger of white ants, and it is usually worth while 
to enclose the seed bed with a fence to keep off larger 
enemies. 

While it is very strongly to be recommended that 
the seedlings be transplanted before they have an 
opportunity to develop a root system in the seed beds, 
and while there is no necessary reason why any nut 
so transplanted should not live and thrive, it is still 
not fairly to be expected that every nut transplanted 
will ultimately produce a tree. To fill up vacancies 
which may subsequently occur in the field, a small 
reserve seed bed should be maintained. It is worth 
while to space the trees in this reserve bed as far 
apart as 1 metre by 50 centimetres, and to remove the 
alternate trees as they are needed in the field. The 



SELECTION OF SEED 121 



trees left then will be 1 metre apart, and these can 
be drawn upon to fill vacancies in the field at any time 
until the trees are at least four years old. If planting 
is going on over a term of years, trees used to fill 
vacancies should be older than the trees among which 
they are placed, as they will be relatively backward 
on account of previous crowding and of injury done 
in transplanting. 

In many places, probably in most places, it is 
customary to postpone transplanting from the seed bed 
to the field until a year or a year and a half after the 
nuts are placed in the bed. While no considerable 
damage is likely to be done by transplanting nuts 
whose shoot is not more than 15 centimetres in height, 
without regard to the roots which may be broken, the 
same thing does not remain true as the seedling 
becomes more developed ; and it is questionable if it 
is ever economically practicable in the establishment 
of a plantation to keep dirt about the nuts when they 
are transplanted into the field. 

If the seedlings are left in the bed until the shoots 
are 50 centimetres high, they are damaged so much 
by transplanting that they are likely to be overtaken 
by plants transplanted at the same time, but which 
have not reached more than one-third of the height. 
If seedlings are allowed to develop in the seed bed 
beyond the point where the first leaves begin to expand, 
care should by all means be taken that transplanting 
does not happen at or about the time that the last of 
the reserve food of the nut is consumed. If they are 
left in the seed bed until most of the food stored is used 
up, they ought then to be left for a considerably longer 
time to permit the plants to develop such strength 
that they can recover from the injury of transplanting 
without the use of the food in the nut. If the nuts 
are placed closely side by side or if the seed bed is too 
densely shaded this will never happen. 

The practice of delaying the planting of the nuts 
in their permanent places reaches its extreme in the 



122 



THE COCO-NUT 



northern part of Ceylon. What is known as the Jaffna 
method, because in use in that district, consists in a 
double transplanting. The nuts here are placed in 
seed beds at distances of 30 centimetres apart. After 
eight to twelve months they become too large to be 
left so close together. They are then transplanted into 
larger beds, and spaced in general about 1*5 metres 
each way. In these they are left for three or four years, 
and during this time are manured, watered, and given 
careful cultivation. So much care and attention is not 
economically possible in most places ; but the treatment 
given the trees in this second bed can well be applied 
elsewhere to the beds used for reserve nuts, since it is 
worth while in order to prevent vacancies in the 
plantation to fill blank spaces at a cost greater than 
would be reasonable for the average of all the trees. 
The Jaffna method demands cheap labour ; and even 
with labour cheap in proportion to the value of land, 
it is only worth while where the soil is light and there 
are severe dry seasons. 



CHAPTEE V 



FIELD CULTURE 

A. Preparation of Land. — The preparation which 
land needs to receive in advance of the planting of 
the coco-nufcs in the field depends of course altogether 
on its previous condition. If it has been already 
in cultivation in other crops, there is obviously no 
especial advance cultivation required. If i it has 
been previously in cultivation and is now occupied 
by grass, the preparation needed before it can be 
used for coco -nuts offers no particular problems, 
and may therefore be passed over with a word. For 
coco-nuts, as for most other crops, this is the worst 
condition in which land can begin to be used. However, 
in many parts of the world this grass-land, or land in 
which grass and brush are mixed, is the only place 
which is practically available. If possible, such land 
should be ploughed repeatedly until the wild grass has 
been practically eradicated, and short-lived catch-crops 
should be made to pay the cost of this work. 

Wherever it is available, the first choice of land 
will be given to virgin forest, or to second growth 
forest as old as possible. In many parts of the tropics, 
notably in Africa, the valley of the Amazon, and some 
of the large and sparsely populated islands of the 
Old World, such as Borneo, New Guinea, Celebes, 
Mindanao, and Sumatra, such land is still to be secured 
at a very low price. This is true, however, solely because 
of the absence or scarcity of inhabitants, and this 

123 



124 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



condition creates a labour problem which should be 
solved by every prospective planter before he tries to 
establish himself. The problem is a personal one in 
its nature ; the man who is acquainted with local and 
neighbouring conditions, and who is apt and skilled 
in handling labour, will solve it with little difficulty. 
The stranger or the man without the genius for holding 
and handling his labour will not succeed under such 
conditions. 

Land which is covered by forest will show the 
measure of its fitness for coco-nut production to the 
practised eye at the first glance. Both the moisture of 
the air and the moisture in the soil show themselves in 
the character of the native vegetation. There are in 
all lands characteristic trees and other plants which 
serve the local expert as infallible guides to the local 
soil and climatic conditions. Only the local expert can 
read such clues ; but it can be taken as a quite safe 
general proposition that wherever in the tropic lowlands 
there is a heavy stand of large and evergreen trees the 
coco -nut with proper treatment can be made very 
productive. The clearing of this land will have to be 
done by local labour, and this labour will usually do its 
work best if permitted to do it in its own way. In the 
Malayan region the native practice is to cut first the 
smaller plants, the vines and the younger trees, and to 
burn these when they become sufficiently dry. The 
larger trees are usually felled after they die as fche result 
of ringing or of fire, or rarely are left to fall to pieces 
as they decay. The practice, on any large scale, must 
be to fell all trees and to burn the waste vegetation as 
completely as possible. This is most often done by 
burning three times ; what does not burn the first time 
is gathered into piles for the second, and this operation 
is repeated with what is left for the third burning. 

Whether or not the local vegetation, as it is cleared 
off, will furnish saleable products which will pay for the 
work, or yield a profit, is a question depending al- 
together on local conditions. It ought not to need to 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



125 



be said that where a profit can be obtained as the land 
is cleared, it should be done ; still I have seen more 
than a few cases where planters were so eager to reach 
the stage of cultivating the land, and so occupied with 
this single aim, that they wasted the natural resources 
and failed to get any return whatever from marketable 
timber sufficient to have paid the whole cost of establish- 
ing the plantation. 

As already said, it will be necessary to burn the 
ground over several times to get rid as completely as 
possible of branches, trunks, and stumps which would 
interfere with the use of the land. This burning wastes 
the nitrogen stored up in the native vegetation, and 
usually causes the soil to retain its original fertility for 
a shorter time than it would if the vegetation were 
permitted to decay in place. Nevertheless, it is often 
the only possible practice, because in the absence of fire 
the vegetation which has been removed will be replaced 
by brush before it is sufficiently out of the way to 
permit effective cultivation, even by hand. 

The removal of stumps is a different question. In 
temperate countries no good farmer tries to convert 
woodland into field without removing the stumps of 
the trees. Kubber planters in the Orient are rather 
generally agreed that they should do the same when 
planting rubber on virgin land, and some English coco- 
nut planters in Ceylon have maintained that the plant- 
ing of coco -nuts on land from which the stumps have 
not been removed is a slipshod device which cannot be 
regarded as decent farming. This probably depends 
largely upon the relative value of land and labour. 
Where the land is expensive and labour is cheap, it is 
good business to invest more money in labour and less 
in land than it is in places where the conditions are 
reversed. The former condition is the general one in 
Ceylon. Where land is as cheap as it is in the 
Philippines, and where labour is as expensive, I am 
very sure that any man will in the long run get far 
greater returns on the capital he invests if he clears and 



126 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



plants as much land as he can expect to care for and 
invests no part of his resources in pulling or grubbing 
out stumps. It would cost more to remove the stumps 
than it usually does in temperate countries ; and on the 
other hand, with the tropical heat and moisture, white 
ants or other insects, and the fungi will get rid of 
the stumps far sooner than decay would remove them 
in the North. The rubber planters' objection to the 
presence of stumps is chiefly that they serve as breed- 
ing-places for white ants, which then attack the living 
rubber. It will rarely happen that the termites do any 
damage to coco-nuts planted in the field ; and where 
they are troublesome they can be guarded against by 
poison or by cultivation far more cheaply and effectively 
than can be done by grubbing out the stumps. 

Assuming that the land is cleared, by labour and by 
fire, as completely as is feasible, it should then be 
brought into immediate use, both by coco-nuts and by 
catch-crops for the coco-nuts. The first thing to be 
done is to line off the ground, marking accurately the 
spot for each tree. The regular arrangement of trees in 
the field is a matter of very considerable permanent 
importance. Cultivation is obviously made much easier 
by it, and this applies not only to the coco-nuts but 
to any other crop which may be interplanted. More 
important than this, however, is ease in supervision. 
Whether or not the management and care of the farm 
be handled by contract, it is very desirable that it be 
easy to check at all times the work which is done on 
the field. This will of course be very much easier if 
the trees are regularly arranged so that the grove can 
easily be divided up into units. Before the ground can 
be lined off, a decision must be made as to the distance 
between trees, a point on which practice in different 
places varies very widely. 

Those who have written about the coco-nut have, 
without exception, recommended wider spacing than is 
often to be found in practice. One factor which has 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



127 



contributed considerably to close planting is the fact 
that a coco-nut plantation is usually valued by the tree 
instead of by its area or even by its production. In 
the principal coco-nut region of the Philippines the 
younger groves are usually planted more closely than 
those twenty years or more old. Filipino planters have 
themselves told me that they do not get a greater yield 
by the closer planting ; and as a matter of fact I am 
satisfied that the yield of the newer groves, even after 
they come into full production, is quite appreciably less. 
But, as business is done in these islands, if a man 
desires to sell his grove, he is likely to receive from 
three to eight pesos a tree, the price depending upon 
the location and upon the current market price of copra, 
but not upon the closeness of the planting nor upon the 
actual number of nuts which the trees produce. 

It is said that natives in Ceylon, Indo -China, and 
some other parts of the Old World, plant their coco-nuts 
as close together as 4 metres when they are not mixed 
with trees of other kinds. According to Watt's 
Dictionary, the Indians of Bombay plant their trees 
about 4*5 x 5 '5 metres, and in Mysore 6x6 metres. 
The customary distance in Zanzibar is given as 4*5 x 6 
metres. Prudhomme regards 7 '5 metres as the least 
proper distance in poor soil. It is my opinion that 
where this distance is the greatest which the coco-nuts 
can use to good purpose the conditions are so unfavour- 
able that coco-nuts should not be planted. The usual 
distance on larger plantations in Trinidad is from 7*3 
to 8 metres (26 feet); 7*3 metres (24 feet) is the 
commonest distance between them. Coert, in a care- 
fully worked out prospectus for coco-nut plantations in 
Java, assumes the distance between trees as 8*4 metres. 

Semler regards 10 metres between trees as in 
general the best distance, and cites as evidence the 
experience of the Alma estate in Penang. A part of 
this estate, planted with 100 trees to a hectare (that is, 
10 metres apart), yielded an average of 60 nuts per 
tree, or a total of 6000 nuts ; while another part having 



128 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the trees 8 metres apart yielded 30 to 35 nuts a tree, 
or a total of about 5000 nuts. In Polynesia there are 
various European plantations on which the trees are 
spaced 10 metres, and some on which an even wider 
spacing is in use. So far as the nature of the ground 
permits regular planting, 10 metres has also been found 
a proper distance in the Seychelles. Van Oijen, in the 
Bulletin of the Colonial Museum at Haarlem 41 (1909) 
30, states that on the plantation of Tjikeumeuh, in Java, 
the trees are set about 13 metres apart; and summing 
up all the information and experience at his disposal 
gives 12 metres as in general the distance which can 
be most confidently recommended. 

The effect of sunlight on the productiveness of 
coco-nuts is illustrated by records made by myself at 
San Kamon in Mindanao. There are coco-nuts in 
double rows, one on each side of each narrow road, on 
this plantation. In such a row, which contained no 
non-bearing trees, I found the yield at one cutting to 
average 22 nuts to the tree. It is customary here 
to cut the nuts four times a year. A single row of 
trees along the well-drained bank of a slough yielded an 
average of 27 nuts, all trees producing. A single tree 
standing by itself in the open yielded 55 nuts, which 
was the average of this tree for several successive 
cuttings. In the centre of an old grove the average for 
the producing trees was about 1 1 ; and in the same 
situation in a large grove on the neighbouring hacienda 
of Talisayan the average yield of bearing trees was 
only 8 nuts ; the individual trees in the area in which 
this count was made were less than 6 metres apart, 
their crowns interlacing freely and producing a rather 
dense shade ; and many trees were without ripe nuts. 

In determining the distance to be adopted, the 
favourableness of local conditions, both climatic and 
of the soil, and also the treatment which the grove is 
likely to receive, should be taken into account. If the 
conditions are unfavourable, the trees may well be 
planted somewhat closer together. However, I do not 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



129 



believe that a less distance than 8 metres is ever to be 
recommended ; where the trees cannot make good use 
of all the space when they are this far apart, it is not 
worth while to go into the business of raising coco-nuts. 
If the trees are planted 10 metres apart they will fruit 
well enough so that under any conditions, excepting at 
any rate those which are very exceptionally favourable, 
they will give a larger return per hectare than if they 
are placed much farther apart. It must be observed, 
however, that the total returns from the land do not 
have to depend upon the coco-nut alone, and that if a 
wide spacing is adopted, the opportunity for catch-crops, 
or for the use of the same land as pasture, may make 
the total and the net returns greater than if attention 
is given entirely to the coco-nuts. This consideration 
will presently be discussed at more length. 

The given distance between trees having been 
decided upon, it should be observed that the common 
method of planting in squares, so that the rows run 
regularly in two directions which are at right angles to 
one another, does not make as complete and perfect a 
use of the land as can be done by having the trees 
alternate in the alternate rows. The latter method is 
commonly known as planting in quincunx, or may be 
described as planting in diamond or triangle. Adopting 
this method and assuming a distance of 10 metres 
between trees, the stakes for the first row made will be 
this distance apart in a straight line. Keturning then 
to the beginning of the second row, describe an arc of 
a circle with a radius of 10 metres from each of the 
first two trees in the first row. The point of inter- 
section of these two lines is the location of the first 
tree of the second row. The second tree is located 
likewise by arcs described from the second and third 
trees of the first row, etc. The distance between the 
first row and the second row is about 8f metres. The 
other rows are located in the same manner and of 
course fall the same distance apart, But while these 
rows are approximately 8f metres apart, there is no 

K 



130 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



tree which is placed less than 10 metres from any 
other tree, and the distance between the trees is the 
thing which is important. Planted in this way, and 
maintaining the distance of 10 metres between trees, 
each hectare of ground, instead of 100 trees, will 
support 115*47 trees. To find the number of trees on 
one hectare with any given spacing, if the trees are 
planted "in square," divide 10,000 by the square of 
the distance between trees expressed in metres ; if the 
trees are in quincunx, divide 11,547 by the same figure. 
Whatever the spacing, any given area has room for 
15*47 per cent more trees in quincunx than in square. 
The advantage of this method of planting, provided 
the distance between trees is not altogether too short, 
is too obvious to need further argument. 

B. Transplanting. — The preparation which it is 
worth while to give to the spots where the nuts are to 
be planted depends on the nature of the ground and 
the price of labour, and on the age at which the seed- 
lings are transplanted. An ideal method under all 
conditions would be to prepare a very large hole and 
to fill this, around the nut, with very rich and well 
prepared soil. It is especially important in an altogether 
practical sense that the coco-nut should grow rapidly 
from the very start. It is obliged to compete for light 
with other plants unless it receives really good cultiva- 
tion. Competitors for light are not dangerous unless 
they are nearly as tall as the coco-nut, or taller. By 
the time the coco-nut is three or four years old, it is 
a very simple matter to protect it against this kind of 
competition, and the sooner the leaves can be made to 
grow up to the point where they overtop the neighbour- 
ing vegetation, the cheaper will be the cultivation which 
is necessary to bring a grove into profitable bearing. It 
is therefore a general principle that the smaller the tree 
is, the more need it has for cultivation and the better 
return it will pay for even a small amount of fertilizing ; 
and the easiest and best time at which to provide it 
with soft and rich soil is when it is being transplanted. 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



131 



But, while the ideal treatment would be the digging 
of a very large hole, there are practical limits, fixed 
chiefly by the price of labour ; and it therefore rarely 
happens that a planter digs holes of such size as most 
writers recommend. It is also evident that in soft and 
rich ground, the coco-nut can take care of itself with 
comparatively little help. In actual practice, it is 
probable that most coco-nuts when transplanted are set 
into holes just large enough to receive them. Such 
extreme economy of labour certainly does not pay. 
There are probably no economic conditions in any place 
such that it would not be worth while to open a hole at 
least 35 centimetres wide and deep, even though the 
cost of preparing these holes limits the number of trees 
which can be planted. In soil which is light and rich, 
it is probably not worth while to make the holes much 
larger than this, and this is especially true if the space 
between the coco-nuts is going to be used for catch-crops 
which will keep the land in a state of tilth, but will not 
rob the coco-nut of light. On heavy land, the holes 
can profitably be made considerably larger, and the 
same is true of sandy but poor soil, where a larger hole 
should be prepared and filled with earth better than the 
most of the surrounding or underlying soil. The figure 
as recommended for practice in Ceylon is 90 centimetres 
(3 feet) in each direction. Watt recommends that on 
poor or heavy soil a hole should be 90 to 180 centi- 
metres in diameter, and 70 centimetres deep. Simmonds 
goes to the extreme, recommending that on level ground 
the holes should be 135 centimetres in each diameter, 
and that on slopes they be made from 180 to 225 
centimetres across. 1 

Unless there are conditions such as the necessity of 
transplanting seedlings before they become too large, or 
of getting the coco-nuts into place before brush can 
grow up, or before the presence of catch-crops would 

1 Tropical Agriculture, p. 224 : "In a level, loose soil, the hole should be a 
cube, of a yard and a half, on hill-sides 2 to 2J yards, but in low grounds half or 
three-quarters of a yard deep with one yard square is sufficient." 



132 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



interfere with easy transplanting, the holes should be 
dug from one to three months before they are to be 
filled. This will permit the exposed soil to weather, 
and will often make soil which, when first dug, would 
not be fit to pack around the nuts, serve very well for 
this purpose ; and where it will serve well, it is naturally 
most convenient to use this soil. It is, however, good 
general practice to rake or hoe a thin layer of the 
surrounding surface soil into the hole when the nut is 
transplanted, and to pack this around the nut. 

Eegarding the cost of digging the holes, Prudhomme 
quotes Keating as stating that at Tamatave a labourer 
under good management can dig in a day eight or nine 
holes of a cubic metre, or twelve to fifteen holes 80 
centimetres wide and deep. The filling of the holes is 
said to take about the same time. In most tropical 
countries it certainly will take good management to 
make labour show this measure of efficiency. In 
Trinidad, using light soil, the nuts are buried a depth 
of 8 or 10 centimetres, and the holes are dug just big 
enough to permit this. Three or four handfuls of lime 
are thrown into the hole ; the nut is put in, covered, 
and tamped in ; and some dry straw is thrown over it. 
One labourer can transplant one hundred trees in this 
way in a day. 

When the time comes for actual transplanting, the 
hole should be filled with weathered soil in the way that 
has just been mentioned, up to such a depth that, when 
the seedling is put in, the level of the nut will fall at or 
just below the level of the ground. The nut should 
then be placed in the middle of the hole, and the space 
around it filled up in the same way, and the soil around 
the nut should be placed firmly enough to ensure that it 
will be sure to keep its place and hold the nut securely. 
If it is practicable to apply manure or fertilizer of any 
kind, this should be mixed with the soil which is placed 
under and around the nut. The soil should be made to 
cover the nut with a thin layer, but not to cover the 
short plumule. In places which are naturally wet, 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



133 



or if transplanting is done in especially wet weather, 
the nut should be planted a little more shallowly so 
that when the soil is packed around it, it will stand 
somewhat above the general level of the surrounding 
ground. 

On good and even ground, coco-nuts planted accord- 
ing to the directions just given will develop a large 
bole, a sufficient part of which will be below the general 
level of the ground to ensure the perfect anchorage of 
the tree. There is therefore no necessity for planting 
at a greater depth, and if the nuts are planted more 
deeply, their subsequent growth for a considerable time 
is likely to be retarded. In wet situations this danger 
is especially great. As an illustration of this danger, 
I have experience at San Eamon, where the manager of 
the government plantation undertook to put the seed- 
ling nuts out of the reach of wild hogs by digging deep 
holes and then planting the nuts so far down that the 
upper side was 30 to 50 centimetres below the surface 
of the ground. The soil where this was done was well 
drained and reasonably light, and as the holes were left 
open above the nuts, it could be seen that in this place 
the deep planting did not result in the presence of 
stagnant water about the nuts. Nevertheless, the 
growth of these seedlings was so slow that when they 
were eighteen months old they were hardly as large as 
properly planted seedlings would have been at the age 
of six months. 

On the other hand, if the nuts are not planted 
sufficiently deep in the ground, there will be danger in 
many places that the roots as they begin to grow will 
find themselves in too dry soil ; and in all places too 
shallow planting results in the production of a bole 
which is not buried to the extent that it should be, so 
that a large part of the roots come out of it above the 
surface of the ground. These aerial roots grow ex- 
ceedingly slowly, and so impede the development of 
the tree, and such trees are not as perfectly anchored 
as they should be. I have seen small plantations 



134 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



deliberately planted in this way because they were on 
wet land, and it was desired to put the younger trees 
where they would not be injured by the rise of the 
ground water. With proper handling such trees can 
be made to develop rapidly and produce reasonably 
well. But such a situation is not one to be recom- 
mended where the planter has freedom of choice. 

Keference has already been made to the desirability 
of filling vacancies, which are bound to occur from one 
cause or another in every growing grove. The Ceylon 
planters of highest repute are said to make it their 
regular practice to fill all vacancies which occur in 
groves up to eight or even ten years old. It is very 
important that trees which are transplanted to fill these 
vacancies should be at least as advanced in their develop- 
ment as the general stand of trees in the grove. The care 
which can well be taken in transplanting trees which have 
already reached a considerable size is again a business 
question which must be settled after a consideration of 
the local cost of labour and of the distance which the 
trees must be moved, and the probable necessity and 
ease of watering them after transplanting. 

Under all conditions, there should be transplanted 
with such a tree a ball of earth so large that no roots 
need be cut so as to leave them less than 30 centi- 
metres long. If it can practically be done, they should 
be left longer than this, but by the time the coco-nut 
becomes four years old it is a good load if accompanied 
by even a small ball of earth. The most of the leaves 
should be cut off, leaving not more than the two or 
three youngest ones. If a larger mass of earth can be 
transplanted, it will be safe to let more leaves remain 
on the tree; and recovery from transplanting will of 
course be quicker in this case. The hole to receive the 
tree should be made considerably bigger than the ball 
of earth, which is transplanted and the extra space should 
be filled with fine, well-weathered and very rich ground 
which must be packed firmly into place. Care must be 
taken that there is no opportunity for the roots of such 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



135 



a tree to become dry ; for at least two months after 
transplanting the tree will have to be well watered un- 
less this is made unnecessary by rain. 

C. Cultivation of Young Groves. — The treatment 
to be given the young grove is primarily a business 
question, the first question to be decided being whether 
or not catch-crops shall be grown. It is evident that no 
crop can be grown between the coco-nuts and harvested 
without removing something from the fertility of the 
soil, and that this taken by itself is bad for the coco-nuts. 
The growing of coco-nuts, however, is a business, and the 
planter will usually not be particular where he gets his 
returns. If the land can be made to yield a greater profit 
by growing more than one crop on it at a time, and there 
are not too great difficulties in the way of doing this, the 
planter will naturally prefer not to use it for the coco- 
nuts alone. If labour conditions permit, that is, if the 
supply of labour is so ample that its use in the cultiva- 
tion of catch-crops will not interfere with the extension 
of the coco-nut plantation, it will be found then, under 
any reasonably good market conditions, that there are 
various crops which can be taken from the ground and 
made to pay some profit, above the cost of raising them 
and purchasing fertilizers more than sufficient to 
replace what they have taken from the soil ; and that 
their culture will keep the coco-nut plantation in 
better condition than can be expected if attention is 
devoted to the coco-nuts alone. 

On the other hand, the use of catch-crops is very 
likely to prove unprofitable in the long run, even 
though it may yield some immediate returns, unless 
some fertilizers are returned to the coco-nuts to make 
up for what the temporary crop has taken from the 
soil. If such a return is made, and in full measure, 
the coco-nuts will fare better for the operation ; because 
the food of the catch-crop is taken from the area between 
the coco-nuts, and the fertilizers can be applied more 
immediately to the neighbourhood of the young trees. 
And this is bound to result in their growing more rapidly 



136 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



than they would if they had all the ground to themselves, 
but were not helped to reach their food. 

The labour problem will often make the use of 
catch - crops on plantations of any size impossible. 
Where the supply of labour is too limited — and it is 
more or less limited in all places — the attention put 
upon the catch-crops must result in interference with 
the extension of the planting of coco-nuts. For there is 
no catch-crop, even among those which demand the 
least care, which can be handled without the use of 
considerably more labour than is needed to keep the 
coco-nuts themselves in such conditions that their 
growth will be satisfactory. Catch - crops will also 
require the care of the manager, and on plantations of 
any considerable size, the attention of the manager can 
usually be better devoted to the promotion of the coco- 
nut culture alone. 

Assuming, then, first, that catch-crops will not be 
used, the thing to be done for the coco-nuts is merely to 
see that they have a decent chance to grow, both in the 
air and in the ground. Coco-nuts themselves do not 
demand much cultivation of the ground, and except in 
places where there are decidedly dry seasons what 
cultivation there is must be quite superficial. On 
light soil it is the general practice, and probably good 
practice, to be contented with merely keeping the 
surface clean. On soil which is very heavy or which 
is inclined to crack, a little surface cultivation should 
be given if labour is cheap enough to make it practicable. 

Concerning the cleaning of the soil, it is necessary 
to see that other plants do not interfere with the 
supply of light for the coco-nuts, and that the other 
vegetation around the trees is not thick or close enough 
for its roots to interfere with the roots of the coco-nuts. 
For some time after transplanting, a space of at least 
50 centimetres around the nuts should be kept so 
short as not to shade the coco-nuts at all. The best 
plan is that for a metre or more around each tree, 
the vegetation should be cut as near the ground as is 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



137 



most convenient, and that immediately around the tree 
the ground be hoed often enough to keep it thoroughly 
clean. The rest of the space between the rows of trees 
can be left to itself so long as trees do not manage to 
grow in it. After six months it is desirable to extend 
the circle which is hoed or thoroughly cleaned to at least 
a metre. This, however, is not so necessary that it is 
recommended in places where labour is especially ex- 
pensive, or so scarce that its use for this purpose would 
interfere with the extension of the planting. 

Such attention as has just been recommended is all 
that under favourable conditions needs to be given 
until the trees come into bearing. It is not only useless, 
but is distinctly undesirable to clean and keep clean the 
entire space between the trees, unless it is also kept in 
cultivation. If the ground in the tropics is kept clean 
and is not in use, it is sure to deteriorate both by 
washing and by baking. 

As deviations from the procedure which has just been 
recommended, some writers have advised moderate culti- 
vation for the coco-nuts at all times ; and it is said that 
at least in Ceylon there are some planters who make this 
their practice. Mr. Orville Wood, an American planter 
on the gulf of Davao, in Mindanao, states that as an 
experiment he cultivated a part of a small grove of 
young trees back of his beach, keeping the rest of the 
grove clean but without working the ground ; and that 
at the end of six years the cultivated trees averaged 
four inches more in diameter than the others. This is 
indeed a very striking result, and it may prove, as the 
trees produce, that the money spent in cultivation pays 
better returns than it would have done if used in planting 
and giving the merely necessary attention to a larger 
number of trees. It is my personal opinion that under 
most labour conditions, such care cannot profitably be 
given to coco-nuts, and I am sure that where it is 
practicable to cultivate to this extent, it is advisable to 
raise catch-crops. 

On the other hand, there are many planters in most 



138 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



or all tropical countries who give their trees less attention 
than is here advised. It is even stated that once the 
coco-nut has been planted and been given a chance to 
begin its growth, it can take care of itself without any 
further attentioD. The fact is that in most places a 
large part of the trees will survive if left to them- 
selves ; but no good planter will be contented with 
merely seeing his trees survive. What the planter 
wants is not coco-nut trees for themselves, but the 
profit which they can be made to yield, and merely 
surviving does not yield returns. I have seen prospectuses 
and estimates which provide practically nothing for 
labour on plantations from the first year up to the time 
that the trees come into bearing, and which provide for 
a full crop in ten years, with the further statement that 
at least a fair crop should be expected earlier than this. 
So far as I know, there is no country where coco-nuts 
left to themselves in this way can be expected to come 
into general bearing in ten years. They do better than 
can be expected with any confidence if they come into 
what is called full bearing in fifteen years, and full bearing 
for such plantations never means what it does for those 
which are decently cared for. I have seen various 
plantations, for the most part small ones, which received 
practically no care while young. In every case, there 
were a considerable number of vacancies ; the trees 
always spindling, with a smaller crown than, coco-nuts 
ought to carry ; and as a rule, such groves as a whole 
do not bear a decent crop of nuts when they are fifteen 
years old. In spite of the fact that a great many 
people treat their coco-nuts in this way, I do not 
believe that anybody who has observed the matter 
carefully enough to frame a sound opinion will hold 
that the money invested in such plantations has been 
used to the best purpose. 

Taking up now the other assumption, that a 
catch-crop is to be cultivated, choice must be made 
among the various crops which in different places are 
used for this purpose. The catch-crop must be one 




t 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



139 



which does not need to keep the land for a long enough 
time to interfere with the development of the coco-nuts, 
or to have to be sacrificed when the coco-nuts need the 
whole of the ground. This is equivalent to saying that 
it must be a crop which can either be removed at the 
end of not more than three years, or which can endure 
being shaded after that time, by the coco-nuts. In 
spite of the fact that it has already been advised that if 
any catch-crop be grown a return of fertilizers be made 
to the soil to balance what the catch-crop removes from 
it, it is advisable in choosing the catch-crop to give the 
preference to one which is known not to make too 
heavy demands on the soil's fertility. For instance, 
tobacco if at all intensively grown, makes very heavy 
demands on the fertility of the soil. In other respects, 
it would be a valuable catch-crop, but for this one 
reason, it is not in general to be recommended. So far 
as possible, it is advisable to give the preference to 
a catch-crop which will be consumed on the ground, 
rather than to one which provides an article of commerce 
which contains in considerable quantity any mineral 
food ; and a crop whose seed or grain only is sold from the 
plantation is better than one of which the whole plant 
is sold. 

Taking up now a few individual crops which might 
be used in this way, the commonest choice is rice or 
some other grain. Eice used in this way must be 
upland rice. Except during the first year of use of 
land previously in forest, upland rice requires a great 
deal of weeding, and this work takes so much time 
that where it must be done by hired day labour, this 
labour must be exceedingly cheap or the crop can not 
be made to pay a profit. Owners of small groves, 
whose children or whose dependants can do this weeding, 
and who therefore do not have to take its cost into 
account, can raise it as a catch-crop among coco-nuts 
better probably than any other crop. If nothing but 
the grain is taken away from the soil, the latter is 
impoverished in but a very slight degree, and the 



140 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



expense for fertilizers to prevent this impoverishment 
is therefore very little. Practically the same considera- 
tions apply to other grains as do to rice. Maize is 
everywhere easy to raise. Its use therefore makes less 
demand upon labour. In most places it too is a 
profitable crop, though the gross returns are not likely 
to be comparable to those from rice. Because of its 
height, maize must not be planted too close to young 
coco-nuts. 

In recently established coco-nut plantations in the 
Philippines, it has been a very common practice to mix 
coco-nuts and abaca. With a reasonable measure of 
neglect, rather than of attention, the abaca is expected 
to begin to yield returns during the third year, and to 
continue to do so up to the tenth year. The theory is 
that, in about ten years, the coco-nuts will come into 
full bearing and the abaca - will be worn out. This 
combination of crops has little indeed to recommend it. 
The abaca* shades practically all of the ground by the 
time that it comes into bearing. If an attempt is 
made to plant it so far from the coco-nuts that the 
latter are not shaded, there is practically no place left 
to be occupied by the abaca (Musa textilis). 

Whenever I have seen the combination in practice, 
the coco-nut is shaded, except for the tips of a few 
leaves which grow straight up and close together, 
before the end of the first year. The coco-nut, therefore, 
during the first years, when the bole is first getting 
established and the tree is fixing its habits of growth, 
receives so little light that it forms fewer leaves than 
it should, and these of slow growth, and starts life with 
a slender stem which never afterwards becomes as stout 
as it should be. From the standpoint of the coco-nuts, 
the interplanting with abaca* is therefore a thoroughly 
bad practice. The mixture of the two crops might 
still be a good business practice if it yielded very large 
returns during the years that the abaca is in production. 
But this is not the case. While the abaca at first 
shades the coco-nut|, and hinders its development and 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



141 



does it permanent injury, the situation will be reversed 
after three or four years, that is, almost immediately 
after the abaca begins to yield good crops. From this 
time on, the abaca is shaded by coco-nuts. Shaded 
abaca will never yield as good returns as abaca" which 
receives the whole of the sunshine, and uses the whole 
of the sunshine in the building up of its fibres. More- 
over, abaca is a crop of uncertain value. There are 
years when its price is so low that it hardly pays to 
harvest the fibre, and there is no return for the work 
which it has taken to bring it to maturity. There are 
other times when it pays handsome returns, and if one 
is counting on his returns at this time of high prices, 
he can certainly not afford to cut them in two by 
shading his abaca with coco-nuts. Finally, both the 
abaca and the coco-nuts are surface feeders. Before 
either one has yielded any crops, their roots will be in 
active competition and doing each other mutual harm. 

In spite of all these considerations, some abaca 
planters maintain that their abaca cannot be expected 
to return crops of fibre for more than ten or twelve 
years, and that unless they have interplanted the 
coco-nuts they will then have nothing of value on the 
land, and that even rather inferior coco-nut trees are 
much more valuable than nothing whatever. The 
latter contention must be granted, but the former is 
not true. Abaca which is given proper cultural treat- 
ment will certainly continue to give big crops for at 
least twenty -five years ; this I know from actual 
observation, and there was no reason to suspect that 
the plantation which had given good returns for 
twenty-five years might not continue to do so for as 
much longer. 

My own preference in the choice of a catch-crop, 
if it is possible to utilize it, is manioc. Manioc is an 
exceedingly heavy producer and can be made to pay 
a very large return for the use of the land. This can 
be done either by feeding the roots to stock, which 
however can ' be recommended only with certain 



142 THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



qualifications, and often only with certain treatment, 
or by using the roots for the manufacture of starch or 
alcohol. This is not the place to discuss these industries. 
They are distinct and separate from coco-nut culture, 
and must be understood both in their industrial and 
their market relations before they can safely be 
undertaken. Where market conditions are satisfactory, 
it is practically certain that the production of manioc 
starch or alcohol can be made in two crops to pay for 
the necessary manufacturing equipment, for the clearing 
of the land, planting of both crops, and the cultivation 
needed by the land, and the return of fertilizers, and 
still leave a good profit from the operation of establish- 
ing the plantation. 

There are various crops, of the garden rather than 
of the field, with which this can be done on a small 
scale, but there is no other which makes such slight 
demands upon labour, nor which can safely be under- 
taken on so large a scale, the reason for the last 
statement being that the manufactured products from 
the manioc are not perishable, and are marketable on 
the world's markets. 

There is a superstition, or it might be more 
respectful to say belief, that manioc is an exceedingly 
hard crop on the soil. This is caused by the practice 
formerly common in the Malay Peninsula, of clearing 
land for manioc, and abandoning it, to return to grass 
or brush, after harvesting two or three crops. There is 
no doubt that land treated in this way deteriorates very 
rapidly. In the Philippines land is very commonly 
treated in exactly the same way, except that the crop 
temporarily raised on it is usually rice. Still nobody 
believes that rice is distinctly a hard crop on the soil ; 
and neither, as a matter of fact, is the manioc. The 
soil would deteriorate almost as rapidly if the rice or 
manioc were ploughed under and nothing at all taken 
away from the ground. Observation has given me 
considerable confidence in the opinion that the soil does 
not deteriorate as rapidly in manioc as it does in rice. 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



143 



This has little to do with the relative rate of removal 
of mineral food, but is simply because the manioc 
keeps the soil more nearly in what may be called its 
virgin condition. 

All that has been said so far presumes that the 
catch-crop will be grown by the coco-nut planter 
himself or under his direct supervision. If catch-crops 
are to be grown, this is the most desirable way of 
handling them. Frequently, however, it is not the 
most practicable. All reasonably populous coco-nut 
countries have also what may be called a tenant system, 
known in different countries by different names, the 
most familiar word adopted into English for this use 
being " Guioa," the native Singalese name of a tenant. 
In most parts of the world, this business is conducted 
on the same general terms. The tenant has the use of 
a young plantation during three years, more or less. 
In return for the use of the land, he keeps, or is supposed 
to keep, the coco-nuts in proper condition. In some 
places he is required to plant them ; in others he enters 
on the use of the land after the coco-nuts are planted. 
In some places he pays some rent, in others he does not. 
These conditions depend primarily upon the relative 
value of labour and land. This arrangement spares the 
coco-nut planter the necessity either of looking after 
the condition of his coco-nuts or having his time taken 
up with their care. The latter consideration is a valid 
argument for the tenant system ; but the former, so far 
as the planter takes advantage of it, is almost sure to 
work to his disinterest. Where no rent is paid for the 
land and the tenant is not required to plant the coco- 
nuts, the arrangement is in effect that the planter pays, 
for such attention as his young trees receive, a certain 
share of the freshness and fertility of his soil. 

The attention which the trees receive in this way 
is usually not worth the price. There are, of course, 
conditions possible, and sometimes realized, under which 
this tenant system is the best way in which the young 
trees can receive any attention, or even the only way. 



144 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Except where such exceptional conditions make its 
adoption necessary, it is not to be recommended. It 
will in general be more satisfactory, if tenants must 
be employed at all, to shorten the time that they are 
promised the use of the land, and to use the necessity 
of renewing the contract as a means of insuring proper 
attention to the coco-nuts. 

CARE OF ADULT GROVES 

From the standpoint of the care which it should 
receive, a grove may be considered to be adult from the 
time that it ceases to be possible to raise in it catch- 
crops which require a considerable amount of light. 
Except where the harvest is concerned, there is no 
reason for treating differently a grove which has come 
into bearing, and a grove in which the trees occupy all 
of the space, but have not quite yet begun to bear. 
Leaving neglect out of consideration, there are three 
ways of handling groves whose trees have reached 
practical maturity. The ground may merely be kept 
decently clean, or it may be put into pasture, or catch- 
crops may still be grown. If no attempt is made to 
get returns from the ground except from the coco-nuts 
themselves, it must still be given such attention that 
no weeds can grow up to dispute the space with the 
coco-nuts, or develop strong root systems. The demands 
would be satisfied in practice by going over the ground 
with scythes or knives not oftener than twice a year, 
and cutting off the vegetation at whatever height is 
most convenient. In too many places the trees do not 
receive even this attention. 

The principal reason for taking greater care to keep 
the grove really clean is one which will be emphasized 
in discussing the methods of harvest. Where it is 
customary to cut the nuts from the trees before they 
become ripe enough to fall off themselves, it is not very 
difficult to find the nuts after they are on the ground, 
even though there be considerable vegetation to cover 




AN ILL-KEPT GEOVE. 
Twelve to fifteen years old, beginning to bear. 



To face page 144. 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



145 



them up. Some nuts are, of course, lost, but not many. 
It will be shown, however, that for various reasons it is 
a better practice to permit the nuts to ripen on the tree, 
and to fall when fully matured. When this is done, it is 
necessary to keep the vegetation between the trees cut 
very close to the ground, as otherwise many of the nuts 
will never be collected. 

If the grove is kept in such condition that all nuts 
on the ground can easily be found at any time, there is 
no reason, from the standpoint of the coco-nuts, nor any 
general reason on grounds of good farm practice, why it 
should not serve at the same time as pasture. In almost 
any part of the world, if the vegetation is steadily kept 
cut so close to the ground that a coco-nut could not be 
hidden, in time the weeds and woody plants, and even 
the coarser grasses, will gradually be killed off, and their 
places will be taken by more succulent grasses ; and 
these can be kept cut close to the ground much more 
cheaply by the use of cattle than by the use of knives. 
Kept on the plantation in such numbers as the rate of 
growth of the pasturage will justify, cattle therefore 
will perform a useful service in keeping the plantation 
in neat condition. 

In young groves the use of such catch-crops as have 
already been discussed becomes impossible after three 
or four years, the time depending on the growth of the 
coco-nuts. From this time on, if the trees are all equally 
advanced, cattle may with advantage be turned into- 
the coco-nut groves for pasture. It is not, however, 
practicable to use them to keep the grove in good 
condition while the trees are younger than this, because, 
however well fed the cattle may be, they are sure to 
tear the coco-nut's leaves if the latter are within their 
reach. 

A great deal has been written regarding the fertilizing 
value of the manure of the animals turned into the 
coco - nut groves. Some of the most involved and 
prolonged discussions come to the conclusion that at 
the best cattle cannot be made to pay a profit in this 

L 



146 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



way. This is self-evident without any discussion. Un- 
less feed is purchased for cattle, or secured elsewhere 
than from the coco-nut plantation, they can return 
nothing to the soil which did not come from it. There 
is therefore no opportunity for profit here ; and suppos- 
ing that their food does come in part from elsewhere, 
and that therefore they add something to the richness 
of the soil, it is hardly conceivable that this outside 
food is obtained for less than its value as fertilizer. In 
a small and not very important way the fertility of 
coco-nut groves may be influenced by the use of cattle. 
They may be kept in corrals or stables, all the time or 
at night, and in this way their manure may be concen- 
trated, and then applied to single parts of the grove 
where it seems to be especially needed. Or the cattle 
may be tied at night in places where their manure is in 
demand, or may be tied for days or weeks at a time in 
certain parts of the grove, and fed there with materials 
from other parts of the grove or elsewhere. Where the 
cattle are tied, the ground is fertilized and also cropped 
closely. It is also likely to be tramped hard, and under 
some conditions this tramping may seriously injure the 
soil. As is true of most practices, any attempt to 
influence the distribution of the manure or the fertilizers 
in this way must be done with judgment, or it will do 
more harm than good. In the use of stables, special 
care must be taken that manure is not allowed to remain 
in piles for long periods, else it will become a breeding- 
place for the larvae of the rhinoceros beetles. One large 
crop of this pest turned loose from the manure heap 
can do more damage than can be compensated for by 
the value of the manure. 

The general subject of fertilizers is still to be taken 
up. With regard to the value of cattle manure, it can 
be confidently said that it is a good fertilizer ; that 
under exceptional conditions it is possible to distribute 
it artificially or by control, and to apply it to points 
where it is most needed, but that in general such 
attempts are practicable only on a small scale, and that 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 147 



no important results can be expected from them ; and 
that at the best the cattle only return to the soil what 
they take from it, somewhat improved in availability 
but decreased rather than increased in amount. 

From the standpoint of the coco-nut, the use of the 
land as pasture is, on the whole, rather an advantage. 
Such use takes practically nothing from the coco-nuts, 
and saves expense in the care of the grove. The question, 
then, which the planter has to decide is, whether or not 
he is sure of a satisfactory profit from the cattle. In 
using coco-nut groves for pastures he has land which 
practically costs less than nothing for this purpose, and 
which for other reasons should be kept in good condition 
for pasture. With free land already in good pasture 
grass, it might seem most extraordinary if it were not 
possible to raise cattle at a good profit. Nevertheless, 
there certainly are places in the tropics where the 
growing of cattle in large numbers, even with these 
advantages, would be a doubtful undertaking. Whether 
or not the individual coco-nut planter lives in such 
a place is a question which he must settle for himself. 

We have so far spoken only of cattle in connection 
with the use of the grove for pasture. There is nowhere 
in the tropics any great industry in horses, nor are there 
any data by which one might decide that a coco-nut 
grove might possibly be used for horse pasture. It will 
generally happen, however, because of the differences in 
the feeding habits of the beasts, that horse pasture has 
more need than cattle pasture of exposure to the light, 
and that therefore the coco-nut grove is more likely to 
be well used for cattle. There are also in the tropics 
extensive industries in pigs and in goats. The goat 
business is one which does not thrive on a large scale, 
there being no extensive commerce in goats or any of 
their products. This is not the case, of course, for the 
products of hogs, and there is no apparent reason why 
the tropics should not develop a business in pork, lard, 
etc., the importance of which will be in some proportion 
to the ease with which the feed of the hogs can be 



148 THE COCO-NUT 

raised. I am satisfied that it is possible to raise hogs 
more cheaply in the tropics than in any temperate 
country, and therefore expect to see the day when such 
products as pork, as articles of commerce, shall reverse 
their present direction of movement. But hogs in large 
numbers are not desirable tenants of coco-nut groves. 
They do not keep the groves as uniformly clean as 
cattle would do, and their rooting is not good for the 
roots of the coco-nuts. Where, however, the utilization 
of the product of the coco-nut on the plantation is 
carried to the point of the extraction of oil, oil-cake 
is produced as a by-product ; and if this is done, it is 
almost certain to be the best economic practice to use 
the oil-cake on the ground. Although the oil-cake is 
an article of commerce as a fertilizer, a greater profit 
can be obtained from its use by feeding it to cattle, 
chickens, or hogs, and getting their excreta for use as 
fertilizers, and getting the animals for sale. 

We have discussed already catch -crops for use in 
young plantations. These were by -crops, of kinds 
which do not endure heavy shade. There are other 
catch-crops which can be grown in old groves, and which, 
at any rate on a small scale, it is good practice to grow 
under old coco-nuts, unless the land is fully used for 
pasture. I do not speak here of such trees as the jack- 
fruit, tamarind, nor of any of the various others which 
are occasionally found interplanted with the coco-nuts, 
but which are more or less equal to the coco-nuts in 
height, and which, therefore, are to be regarded as tak- 
ing the place of a part of the coco-nuts in the field. A 
catch-crop in adult coco-nuts must be a plant which 
endures the shade of the coco-nuts, instead of disputing 
the use of the sunlight with the latter. 

Among possible catch-crops in coco-nut groves are 
certain fruit-trees such as the lanson (Lansium) and pili 
nut ( Canarium). Either of these trees will thrive reason- 
ably in the shade of the coco-nut, and will pay a bigger 
profit for the use of the land than will the coco-nut 
itself, provided it grows close to a good market. Neither, 




MINOR PRODUCTS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
Photograph, Reimold. 

To face page 148. 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



149 



however, produces products which can at present be put 
on to a general world's market in large quantities. The 
practicability of raising them is therefore a local 
question, and is usually quite limited. There are certain 
garden crops, such as ginger, which are frequently grown 
in shade ; so far as these have to be of local consumption, 
the same conditions apply to them as to the lanson and 
similar fruits. Pine-apples are often grown uuder coco- 
nuts, but, so far as I know, this is never done on so 
large a scale that it is possible to dispense with the 
demands of the local market and can the fruit. Among 
crops which are able to reach wider markets, and there- 
fore to be raised on a large scale, are cacao, coffee, and, 
on a smaller scale, black pepper. As a general proposi- 
tion, both coffee and pepper are crops into whose pro- 
duction large quantities of labour must enter. It would 
therefore seem that they might be very desirable acces- 
sory crops for one which like coco-nut requires very 
little labour. As a matter of general economic propriety 
this is no doubt the case ; but in practice at the present 
time any district or country with an extensive coco-nut 
industry is sure to be prosperous ; and with prosperity 
the price of labour usually rises to a point where it is 
economically impossible to devote it to the production 
of either coffee or pepper. The situation with cacao is 
somewhat different. Labour for the production of cacao 
does not have to be quite so cheap as is demanded for 
the crops just considered, neither does it have to be so 
abundant. 

Markets for different crops change their relative 
positions from year to year, and what could best be raised 
last year may be produced at a loss by the next. Just 
at this time it would appear that in places with extensive 
coco-nut interests, but with population so dense that, in 
spite of the high profit to be derived from the coco-nuts, 
the value of labour remains reasonably low, the best crop 
to be grown on a large scale on the same land which is 
occupied by the coco-nuts is probably cacao. Where 
coco-nuts are the principal crop, and the population is 



150 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



not very dense, it will usually be found impracticable to 
raise any other crop on a large scale between the 
coco-nuts ; and the best practice in such cases will be to 
cut down all vegetation between the coco -nuts and to 
put the grove into pasture. 

FERTILIZERS 

More attention has been given to the effect of 
different fertilizers than to any other phase of the study 
of the crops of temperate regions. It is a widespread 
feeling that the same attention would be equally profit- 
able in the case of the coco-nut. In appreciation of the 
importance of the subject, rather than in the expression 
of our knowledge on it, Prudhomme devotes nearly one 
hundred and fifty pages to the discussion of the need of 
fertilizers under various conditions, of the fertilizers to 
be employed, and of the method and time of application. 
There are other treatises on the coco-nut which dismiss 
this subject with a page or so, and even then omit very 
little definite information. There is no cultivated crop 
which cannot be made more productive by the applica- 
tion of fertilizers. If a crop is harvested year after year 
from the same ground, as is done with the coco-nut, 
there is a steady removal of food material. It is per- 
fectly obvious that, assuming that this material comes 
from the soil about the roots, there must be a steady 
depletion of the stock of available food. This food store 
is always a limited one. Moreover, it is almost always 
less, even when the crop is planted, than would produce 
the most thrifty development and yield. Fertilizers are 
needed, then : first, to cause a production more ample 
than the natural store of food suffices for ; and second, to 
replace what is taken away or tied up in the growth of 
the plant. 

Eemembering as always that agriculture is a 
business, we must consider, as each farmer must do for 
himself, not merely what application of fertilizers would 
produce an increased yield, but the profit which this 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



151 



increase of yield can with reasonable confidence be 
expected to pay, over the cost of the fertilizers and of 
their application. At the present time we have no suffi- 
cient knowledge as to the effect of any fertilizer upon 
the coco-nut. If we had this, it would still be necessary 
to take into account, from the standpoint of the coco- 
nut, the different conditions in different localities, and, 
from the standpoint of the planter, the relative value of 
money invested in fertilizers, and of the same money 
applied in other ways. The effect of fertilizers is to 
produce greater crops on a given area of land with a 
given application of labour. If both land and labour 
are expensive, the use of fertilizers will be relatively 
profitable. Their cost varies comparatively little from 
place to place throughout the world. They have a fixed 
or but moderately varying value in the main centres of 
distribution. Their value elsewhere is this primary cost 
plus the expense of transportation ; and the cost of 
transportation, even though in some places considerable, 
still results in a local value or cost of fertilizers very 
much less fluctuating, from place to place through the 
tropics, than are the values of land and labour. 

There are also available in every place fertilizing 
materials of local origin, which in most places are 
neglected even though their cost would be very slight. 
There are places in the tropics where both land and 
labour are cheap, but such places are usually at decided 
disadvantages in other respects. There are places, such 
as the Philippines, where land remains cheap but labour 
is becoming rather expensive ; and others, such as 
Ceylon, where land is expensive and labour remains 
cheap. Where the combined cost of land and labour is 
such that the establishment and maintenance in decent 
condition of a plantation is relatively inexpensive, money 
is likely to bring a better return if invested in the 
extension of a plantation than it is if devoted to secur- 
ing the highest returns from a given area. 

-Aside from these purely business considerations, and 
from the actual richness of the soil as indicated by 



152 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



analysis, it has also been made as clear as possible in 
these pages, that the utility of fertilizers depends 
upon various factors which influence the physiological 
behaviour of the trees, and upon soil conditions which 
are not revealed by chemical analysis. The mineral 
food of the soil is taken up by the plants in solution. 
What they do not take up is at the best without value 
to the trees, no matter how rich analysis may show the 
soil to be. The conditions which cause active transpira- 
tion will increase the mineral food at the disposal of the 
plant, and will produce the same results as would the 
application of fertilizers to the soil at the expense of 
the planter. The same results can be achieved again 
by such cultural methods as result in an ample develop- 
ment of a root system free from competition with the 
roots of other plants. 

It is a foolish practice, indeed, to apply money to 
the purchase and application of fertilizers, and then 
allow these to be absorbed by weeds, or to be lost 
because the root system of the coco-nut is not what it 
should be, or to prevent the most complete possible 
absorption of them by planting the coco-nuts so close 
together that a proper rate and amount of transpiration 
is impossible. Under proper conditions, the artificial 
application of fertilizers will certainly be profitable. 
But before recourse is had to this expensive method 
of increasing the yield, intelligent care should be taken 
that none of the cheaper methods of accomplishing the 
same result have been overlooked, and that the cultural 
treatment is such as will insure the most complete 
possible utilization of the fertilizers applied. 

Turning to the soil conditions, it has been emphasized 
over and over that the typical habitat of the coco-nut 
is one in which it draws its food not merely from the 
soil about its roots, but also from a moving body of 
water continually coming to this soil from land located 
above it. Soils which, if judged by chemical analysis, 
would have to be regarded as hopelessly poor, are often 
seen to produce coco-nuts with all the luxuriance which 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 153 



could be desired. This is the condition along the 
seashore at San Eamon. In such a location the 
application of fertilizers will indeed produce some im- 
provement in the crop, but is likely to result in very 
little profit, or even in a loss of money. The current 
of water in the soil which brings other food to these 
coco-nuts is usually taken up in very small part by the 
roots of the trees. The rest moves onward, and if 
fertilizers are applied to such trees in such quantities 
as would produce the best results with crops differently 
situated, the current of soil water must be expected 
to carry a large part of them away with it. In the 
case of trees planted along the beach, artificial fertilizers 
will therefore be carried into the sea and absolutely lost. 
The propriety of using fertilizers, therefore, depends 
upon soil conditions which can be recognized by analysis, 
and upon other conditions which elude analysis. 

It also depends directly upon the available supply 
of water for the use of the plant. In localities which 
have pronounced dry and wet seasons, fertilizers, to be 
profitable, must be applied with especial care. Unless 
water is artificially supplied, there will be parts of the 
year in which the material in the soil is at least in 
considerable part unavailable, because not dissolved in 
water which the roots could absorb, and other parts 
of the year when it is likely to be washed or leached 
away by excessive water. The propriety of applying 
fertilizers depends also upon the method of handling 
the grove, whether or not catch-crops are grown, what 
these crops are, and what they remove from the soil 
or contribute to it. Sufficient details on this phase of 
the question have already been presented. 

Aside from our general knowledge of the demand 
of plants for their mineral and nitrogenous food, and 
of the conditions under which they will absorb and use 
such food, there are two general methods of investigating 
the need of particular crops for particular foods, and - 
of the utility and profit of applying particular fertilizers 
to particular plants. The first of these is chemical 



154 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



analysis. This is the quicker method. But in inexpert 
hands even a good chemical analysis is not a safe guide 
to practise, and even in the most competent hands 
it is most valuable as a guide to experimentation. 
A number of analyses of the parts of the coco-nut tree 
or of whole trees, and of the products, have been made 
in different parts of the tropics. Some of these analyses 
are on their face not reliable, because the total of 
constituents falls too far short of one hundred per cent. 
Others seem to be good analyses, but are based on so 
little material that they cannot be assumed to indicate 
general conditions even for the locality where made. 
And the remaining published analyses, which come 
down to not more than three sets of figures made in 
different countries, constitute together too small an 
amount of information to be more than a general 
indication of the demands which the coco-nuts make 
upon the food in the soil. There are many crops of 
temperate countries concerning which we have such 
complete information as to the chemical composition 
and the demands upon the soil, that it is possible from 
the analysis of the produce of a given piece of land 
to state almost positively that the crop in question 
has, or has not had, a proper supply of each of the 
most essential elements. In the case of the coco-nut, 
the information is so meagre that it would be ridiculous 
to draw such a conclusion from any analysis. 

Our knowledge of the chemical composition of coco- 
nuts, and of the products which are usually marketed, 
is summed up in essential in the following tables. The 
first table gives the weight of each part of a nut and 
the per cent of the whole nut. The figures are averages, 
based on the number of nuts indicated at the head of 
each column. 



[Table 



FIELD CULTURE 155 



Analyses of San Ramon Nuts, by Walker 

















From one tree. 








Sea-shore, 1000. 


Inland 


, 1000. 
























Hardly 


ripe, 10. 


Fairly 


ripe, 9. 


Dead ripe, 10. 




grams. 


per 
cent. 


grams. 


per 
cent. 


grams. 


per 
cent. 


grams. 


per 
cent. 


grams. 


per 
cent. 


Husk . . 


897 


38-0 


703 


30-8 


2779 


70-0 


1268 


51-1 


520 


33-4 


Shell . . 


282 


11-9 


291 


12-7 


227 


5-8 


214 


9-4 


201 


12-9 


Meat . . 


647 


27-4 


688 


30-1 


405 


10-3 


465 


20-6 


453 


29-1 


Water . . 


537 


22-7 


603 


26-4 


547 


13-9 


437 


18-9 


384 


24-6 


Total . 


2363 


100-0 


2285 


100-0 


3958 


100-0 


2384 


ioo-o 


1558 


ioo-o 



Ash Analyses 
Grams, average, in one nut at San Ramon. 





N. 


K 2 0. 


PA- 


Husk . . . 


1-609 


3-915 


0-017 


Shell . . . 


0-660 


0-947 


0*459 


Meat . . . 


4-683 


2-475 


1-740 


Water . . . 


1-542 


1-313 


0-171 



Figuring on 173 to the hectare — the actual number 
on a part of the San Eamon farm — and allowing for 
an annual production by each tree of 40 nuts, or a 
round total of 7000, the annual loss is : 





In nuts. 


In leaves. 


Total. 


N 

K 2 

p 2 o 5 


kg. 

59- 43 

60- 55 
16-73 


kg. 
31-69 
74-82 
24-65 


kg. 

91-12 
135-37 
41-38 



The following analyses by Lepine and Bachoffen 
differ from Walker's in being based on single nuts 
instead of large numbers. Bachoffen's nut cannot 
have been thoroughly ripe. 



[Table. 



156 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 





By Lepine. 


By Bachoffen. 


Total ash, 
per cent 
of total 
weight. 


Per cent of total ash. 


Total ash. 


Per cent of total ash. 


Salts of K. 


Calcium 
Phosphate. 


Potash 
(K 2 0). 


Phosphoric 
acid. 


Husk . . 


6-08 


73*69 


0-98 


1-63 


30-71 


1-92 


Shell . . . 


1-41 


86-94 


2-18 


0-29 


45-01 


4-64 


Meat . . . 


110 


61-81 


24-54 


0-79 


58-23 


20-33 


Water . . 


0-27 


46-15 


19-22 


0-38 


47-66 


5-68 



Coco-nut Cake, by Sanson (Compilation) 



Total ash . 


4-46 


Potash 


. 40-57 


Soda 


2-30 


Lime 


4-71 


Magnesia . 


2-95 


Iron oxide 


3-56 


Phosphoric acid 


. 26-98 



There is also about 3 per cent of nitrogen. 

Q*4i©asy copra contains about 6 per cent of water, 
2 5 per cent of ash, and 1 per cent of nitrogen. 

From these analyses it is safe to conclude that the 
coco-nut uses both in its products and in its body a 
conspicuously large amount of potash. The amount 
of potash in ordinary soils is small enough, so that it 
is a safe general conclusion that coco-nuts dependent 
upon the local soil supply, without the continual 
addition of fresh quantities brought by the soil water, 
will respond to a profitable extent to the artificial 
application of additional potash. Experiments here 
and elsewhere indicate that this is the case. 

To a less conspicuous degree as compared with crops 
in general, the coco-nut ties up in its own substances 
and in its products an appreciable amount of nitrogen. 
To a still less extent, as compared again with crops in 
general, it removes the phosphorus of the soil. It may 



Y 



FIELD CULTURE 157 



be accordingly stated as a probably correct conclusion 
that of these three most important fertilizing substances 
the coco-nut in general demands potash first, nitrogen 
next or with it, and then phosphorus. Even this much 
of a conclusion must be regarded as tentative and of 
by no means universal application. As evidence against 
this order of importance, it should be remarked that 
fish refuse, which is a fertilizer conspicuously rich in 
phosphorus, seems always to produce a conspicuously 
more thrifty development of the coco-nut. 

The second method of investigating the need of 
fertilizers and their effectiveness is experimentation in 
their application and observation of the results. This 
is the only method which gives absolutely reliable 
evidence from the scientific point of view, or which 
can give evidence which is certainly applicable to any 
particular coco-nut grove. The information available as 
a result of work of this kind is astonishingly meagre. 
The German Potash Syndicate has published a few 
results indicating the profitableness of applying potash 
alone and in combination. From personal knowledge 
of the methods employed by the; Potash Syndicate in 
securing such information, I can say that no suspicion 
attaches to the validity of these statements because of 
their origin. It has been clearly shown here, and on 
private plantations in Ceylon, that the application of 
potash has resulted in sufficiently more thrifty develop- 
ment to make the treatment decidedly profitable. In 
the experiments made, the application of phosphorus in 
the form of basic slag has been likewise profitable. 

There are also in the literature a considerable 
number of notes by individuals, which purport to show 
that by the application of fertilizers of one kind or 
another excellent results have been produced. Such 
statements are usually of questionable general value, 
because experimentation of this kind by individual 
planters is usually inexpert. The experiments are 
likely to be undertaken without the necessary pre- 
cautions to exclude interference by other factors, and 



158 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



notes on the previous condition of the trees are very 
often kept with too little care. 

It is no unusual thing for a planter to apply a 
fertilizer to a grove, and to report the immediate 
increase in the yield as a result, and then to consider 
that the experiment has been closed. An increase in 
the yield during the six months following the applica- 
tion is indeed not impossibly a result of it ; but if a 
very marked increase is observed during that time, it 
is more likely to be due to something else than to the 
fertilizer. From what has been stated in the earlier 
pages, and from the observations which are made by 
each class in this college, it is perfectly evident that 
the principal effects of such treatment will make them- 
selves felt from a year to two and a half or three years 
after the application. 

The most considerable result must be very indirect, 
by an increase in the general vital activity of the tree. 
In its application to the nuts, this may show, first, in 
the production of larger nuts, which may be manifest 
within six months but surely not much sooner than this; 
or second, in the production and ripening of more nuts 
on each bunch, which can hardly be evident within nine 
months of the application, and is never likely to be the 
chief factor in the increase ; or third, in the production 
of a greater number of bunches of nuts, or, in other 
words, in the more rapid succession of bunches. The 
same factors which will so influence the thriftiness of 
the tree as to cause the more rapid production of new 
bunches can also be expected to produce larger nuts, 
and are likely to cause rather more nuts to mature on 
a bunch. The rate at which the bunches of nuts follow 
one another depends upon their rate of development, 
and on the rate at which they begin to be formed. So 
far as we know, fertilizers have little or no influence 
upon the rate of development. This is certainly con- 
trolled by the supply of water in much more con- 
spicuous degree. The number of bunches cannot be 
greater than the number of leaves produced in any 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



159 



given time, and this is determined by the rate at which 
the leaf primordia are developed around the growing 
point of the trunk. Dissections of coco-nut trees show 
from 17 to 23 or 25 distinct leaves which are not yet 
visible without dissection. Microscopical study would 
of course increase this number. 

Assuming that there are 24 such leaves, and that 
the rate of appearance is 16 a year, the youngest of 
these will require a year and a half before the tip can be 
detected in the crown of the tree. After a leaf becomes 
visible, it requires at least six months for the production 
of flowers in the axil and still another nine months for 
the production of the fruit. Under the conditions which 
have been assumed, which are approximately those 
occurring in nature, it will therefore be two years and 
nine months before an improvement in the cultural 
conditions can^ by increasing the rate at which the 
new leaves are formed, increase the production of a 
marketable crop. 

It follows most obviously that data as to the 
effectiveness of the application of any fertilizer are in- 
complete unless carried on for more than three years 
after the application. The fertilizer has no direct effect 
on the size of the nuts, or the tree's ability to mature all 
which set, or even the rate at which new clusters of 
nuts are produced. Its first visible effect may be upon 
the growth of roots or of leaves, both directly and in- 
directly. Chiefly through its effect upon growth, a 
fertilizer is expected to increase the rate of formation 
of organic material by the leaves. And it is only after 
it begins to make itself felt by an increase in the 
assimilative activity of the leaves that it can begin to 
have any influence upon the production of a crop. 
If the time necessary for this effect upon the general 
vegetative activity of the tree be added to the two 
years and nine months, — which is probably already below 
the time in which the rate at which the new leaves are 
laid down can begin to influence the production, — it is 
obvious that rather more than three years must pass 



160 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



before the principal effect of fertilizing should be 
realized. The effect of the best application of fer- 
tilizers is by no means exhausted even during this 
long interval. By improving the general vegetative 
activity of a tree, the planter does not merely produce 
an increase in the marketable crop in the ways which 
have just been suggested ; but beside this the supply 
of organic food which the leaves produce makes possible 
the development of larger leaves and so compounds the 
advantage. The better supply of organic food tends to 
produce greater activity in the growth of the roots, and 
thus greater ability to absorb water and the food about 
the base of the tree. There is then a greater area and 
bulk of soil upon which the tree can draw for its water 
and mineral food ; and this in its turn tends to insure 
a still greater production, even aside from the greater 
richness of any given cubic foot of soil, resulting 
directly from the application of the fertilizer. In these 
ways the effect of a fertilizer may be felt over an in- 
definite number of years. 

On the other hand, the advantage which ought to 
be secured from the use of fertilizers may be entirely 
lost by failure to follow up the application by continued 
proper treatment. The failure of the water-supply may 
undo the profits which should be expected after two or 
three years, by making it impossible for the tree to 
properly develop the additional leaves and fruit clusters 
which have been formed in embryo as a result of 
temporary good treatment. If the tree is stimulated to 
the production of more and larger leaves, which should 
promise a continued increase in the crop, a failure of 
water may still make this greater leaf expansion a 
reason for fear ; for the greater the need of water, the 
greater the injury which will follow if the supply is very 
inadequate. Again, the expansion of the root system, 
which should follow the use of fertilizers, will have no 
result except to bring the trees in keener competition 
with each other, if they are planted so close together that 
the available soil of a grove is already fully occupied. 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



161 



Good treatment of the coco-nut is a full system of 
procedure, not a single act, nor a spasmodic burst of 
attention. In order that any detail of the treatment of 
a grove, however strongly to be recommended in itself, 
may have the results which in a business sense should 
be expected from it, it must be co-ordinated with all 
of the other treatment which the plantation has received 
and will receive in the future. The propriety of using 
fertilizers depends not merely upon the amount and 
upon their cost, and the cost of possible extension of 
the grove, but also upon every detail of the treatment 
which the grove receives in other respects, and upon 
the attention which is given to all of the other needs 
of the trees. 

It is presumably because of the complexity of the 
problem and of the difficulty in the interpretation of 
results, and still more because of the long time which 
must intervene between the application of fertilizers 
and the drawing of even approximately final conclusions, 
that reports from the various governmental stations 
which have undertaken such work with coco-nuts are 
still wanting. At least four such stations in the 
tropics have published accounts of the undertaking of 
systematic work of this kind, but none of them have 
as yet made the results public. 

We turn now to a brief discussion of the fertilizers 
which are to be recommended, although on other grounds 
than a sufficient knowledge of the results of their 
application. The first and greatest need of the tree 
seems to be that for potash. This can be furnished 
in the form of ashes or manure, or as a commercial 
fertilizer. The second need, for nitrogen, will in most 
cases be most economically supplied by the use of green 
manures. The necessity of furnishing nitrogen depends 
upon the method in which the grove is handled. If 
it is kept clean by the burning of the fallen leaves 
more nitrogen will be lost by the soil than if these 
leaves are permitted to decay. If the grove is used 
for pasture this may consist in considerable part of 

M 



162 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



leguminous plants which, with the excreta of the stock, 
will maintain or even increase the soil's natural wealth 
of nitrogen. Either as pasture or as a crop to be turned 
under there are various legumes which will accomplish 
this end. Even the sensitive plant which, as a weed, 
is widespread in coco-nut plantations is eaten by cattle, 
and contributes very materially to the stock of soil 
nitrogen. There are other legumes which in young 
groves will return a direct profit, but these have already 
been mentioned under the head of catch-crops. The 
third need of the plant for a mineral food is for 
phosphorus. There are various commercial sources of 
which the most common is perhaps basic slag. 

The coco -nut removes, as compared with other 
crops, but little of these elements from the soil. Aside 
from the fertilizers which provide single food con- 
stituents there are in general available for use on 
coco-nut plantations the manure of live stock, and, 
if oil is manufactured, the oil-cake of the coco-nut. 
The manure of different animals varies in composition. 
That of cattle contains in general terms 0*3 per cent to 
0*5 per cent of nitrogen, 0*1 per cent to 0*2 per cent 
of phosphorus pentoxide (commonly, but inaccurately 
called phosphoric acid), and 0*01 per cent to 0*2 per 
cent of potash. Cattle manure is a weaker fertilizer 
than many people realize, and accordingly must be 
applied in large quantities to produce conspicuous 
results. It may then well be supplemented by the 
application of ashes, or of a commercial fertilizer rich 
in potash. Applied in sufficient quantities, it will pro- 
duce results that are conspicuous indeed, as is evidenced 
by one of our groves, a part of which has been used 
as a corral. 

The oil-cake contains materials which ought never 
to leave the farm unless at a profit which will permit 
the purchase of fertilizers to replace the material lost. 
The composition of the oil-cake of course varies from 
place to place according to the way in which it is 
secured. Its asl^ as a general proposition, amount^ to 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 163 



about 8 per cent of the total weight. The composition 
of this ash can be seen from the table of analyses 
already given. 

The need of fertilizers on the plantation obviously 
depends in a very high degree upon the use to which 
the trees are put ; that is, upon the commercial product 
which is sold from the plantation. If, for instance, oil 
is sold and the oil-cake is kept on the place, and either 
applied directly as a fertilizer or fed to animals whose 
manure is returned to the soil, the theoretical loss of 
food material is reduced to zero. There is of course 
a slight actual loss, as nothing can be taken from the 
soil and kept upon its surface without some being 
washed away, and as decay is inevitably accompanied 
by a loss of more or less nitrogen ; but such losses 
are inconspicuous. If the trees are used for the pro- 
duction of toddy the loss of mineral food is again 
very slight. Fresh toddy contains about 0*02 per 
cent of nitrogen, and the total ash amounts to about 
one-fourth of 1 per cent. If from the toddy, sugar 
or alcohol is produced, a considerable part of the 
fertilizing materials in the sap will be separated as 
waste products and can be returned to the soil. 

If copra is produced and sold, the amount of 
material lost from the soil can be calculated from the 
analyses already given. In making such a calculation 
it is merely necessary to assume a reasonable number 
of trees per hectare and a reasonable yield per tree. 
To make calculations for a given plantation the number- 
of trees actually present and the actual yield of nuts 
will furnish a basis for the calculation. As a genera] 
proposition copra contains from 1 per cent to 3*65 
per cent of ash ; a convenient approximate figure is 
2*5 per cent. The larger part of this is potash, which 
is 1'35 per cent, more or less. Phosphoric acid amounts 
to about one-half of 1 per cent. If the product 
marketed is desiccated coco-nut, the loss of food from 
the soil is the same as when copra is sold. If coir is 
sold, or if for any reason the husks of the coco-nut 



164 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



leave the plantation, there is of course a very great 
additional loss of fertilizing materials. If the husks 
themselves are sold, the loss is materially greater 
than when the coir is sold after its extraction from 
the husks. The greatest loss of all is of course by 
the sale of the whole nuts. Yet this is the common 
form in which to market the produce in some parts 
of the world, and the chief form wherever transportation 
facilities are such that nuts can be laid down at 
reasonable cost at the centres of commerce in temperate 
countries. 

In the past the manuring value of the constituents 
of the coco-nut has been better understood, or at least 
better appreciated in practice, in various temperate 
countries than it has where the coco-nuts are produced. 
It is evidently in the permanent interest of the planter 
to produce oil on the ground rather than to sell copra. 
But the oil-cake made in many tropical countries is 
without local cash value, while it has sufficient value 
in other places, so that copra-buyers can, if necessary, 
bid up to the full oil value of the copra, and make 
the profits and the cost of transportation and manu- 
facture out of the sale of the oil-cake. 

THE HARVEST 

The proper time for the harvest of the nuts depends 
somewhat on the use to be made of the crop. In the 
rare cases in which the production of coir is the chief 
end the nuts are not allowed to become very nearly 
mature. But in most cases the making of coir is not 
a consideration at all, and only copra is directly pro- 
duced. The copra in its turn is sooner or later used 
for the manufacture of oil, and its value depends 
entirely on the quantity and quality of the oil which 
can be made from it. To produce the greatest quantity 
and best quality of oil, and to produce it most easily 
and cheaply, the nuts must be entirely ripe. A nut 
is ready for the seed-bed when it is really ready for 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



165 



copra-manufacture. By that time the husk has become 
shrunken, the meat thoroughly hard, and the hollow 
inside it about one-third empty, so that when it is 
shaken the water will make a sharp splash against the 
meat. The nut loses in weight and size for more than 
two months before it is ripe, but throughout this 
shrinkage there is a material increase in the content 
of oil. 

This change in weight as the nut ripens is shown 
by the following analyses of San Kamon nuts, by 
Walker. 





Hardly ripe. 
Average of 
10 nuts. 


Fairly ripe. 
Average of 
9 nuts. 


Dead ripe. 
Average of 
10 nuts. 


Husk 
Shell 
Meat 
Water 

Total 


2779 g. 
227 
405 
547 


1268 g. 
214 
465 
437 


520 g. 
201 
453 
384 


3958 


2384 


1558 



These nuts were all taken at one time from one tree. 

As the husk grows tougher and the shell harder, 
at the same time that the nut becomes much lighter 
in ripening, dead ripe nuts are very much less likely 
to be broken by falling from high trees than are nuts 
which are not fully ripe. If nuts are harvested by 
cutting, it is impossible in practice to wait until each 
bunch is fully ripe, and in old groves there is always 
an appreciable loss, from the breaking of some of the 
nuts not yet ready to fall. Moreover, if the nuts are 
cut it is not economically possible to separate the dead 
ripe nuts from those nearly ripe, even though they can 
be distinguished. They are all opened together, and 
in this way some oil is lost, and the copra produced is 
not uniform. In a business sense the most inexcusable 
of all losses on a coco-nut plantation is that resulting 
from the production of any but the highest possible 
grade of copra. This is equally true, whether the 



166 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



copra is sold, or whether the oil is extracted on the 
place. 

For a number of reasons, then, it is clear that the 
best way to harvest the nuts is to permit them to ripen 
fully on the tree until they fall. 

In spite of the strong reasons for this conclusion 
most coco-nut planters, the world over, cut the nuts 
down. The chief reason for this is that they do not 
understand that incompletely ripe nuts produce less 
copra and poorer copra, and that it is harder to dry. 
And it is a fact that the individual planter must usually 
sell his copra on a market where he gets a price fixed 
by the general quality of the product of his region. 
There will be more to say on this point in connection 
with the manufacture of copra. Another reason why 
nuts are cut is the force of custom. Men with few 
trees have everywhere preceded plantations. It is 
convenient for them to harvest a crop and use it, and 
be done with it for some months. The same is true of 
plantations just coming into bearing. The first crops 
are too small to justify frequent search for fallen nuts, 
or the constant or very frequent drying of copra, and 
immature nuts are not likely to break when they fall 
from young trees. As plantations develop the custom 
of cutting down the nuts is kept up, after the real 
reason for it ceases to exist. 

There are of course reasons to be found for cutting 
down the nuts. It is sometimes found that nuts 
germinate without falling. This is a bad characteristic 
of rare trees ; their nuts should be rigorously excluded 
from seed-beds. Excessive dampness can also, rarely, 
cause germination on the trees ; coco-nuts will not 
thrive where the air is so damp that this is common. 

It is objected that some nuts are lost if they drop 
as they ripen. If the place is decently clean, even 
though it be on a steep hillside — at least as steep as 
coco-nuts will thrive on — less nuts need be lost than 
would be broken if prematurely cut. There are 
sufficient reasons, altogether aside from the ease of 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



167 



finding the fallen nuts, why the grove should be kept 
in such condition that very few nuts need be lost. It 
is said that the collection of fallen nuts is expensive, 
because of the necessity of frequent search for them ; 
but search as frequent as is necessary does not cost as 
much as cutting down the nuts. And finally, there are 
many energetic planters who think their trees are not 
well cared for unless the crowns are cleared of the dead 
bases of leaves and fruiting branches, and who find it 
most convenient to have this work and the cutting 
down of the nuts done together. If this cleaning is to 
be done it is true that cutting down the nuts costs 
practically nothing in addition. But the cleaning out 
of the crowns is itself, more often than not, a misguided 
effort. There are cases in which it is necessary ; for 
instance, when there are rats' nests to be removed. 
But in general it is not necessary, and unless very care- 
fully and moderately done it is dangerous. Any care- 
lessness in such work may make the tree a victim of 
red beetles, or of certain fungi, or possibly of bud rot. 
And it is no rare occurrence for cleaning to be so 
excessive that the lower, heavy bunches of nuts are left 
without sufficient support. Even if a knife does no 
more than cut off the green stem of a cluster of nuts it 
leaves a possible point of infection by some of the 
enemies of the tree. 

And still most planters have the nuts cut down. 
This is done in various ways, each land having its local 
method, in the practice of which the men concerned 
become very skilful. In the upper part of the great 
coco-nut forest encircling Mount Banajao, in Luzon, the 
trees are not climbed, but the clusters of nuts are cut 
off by men who remain on the ground, using the 
" halabas." A short, sharp knife is firmly fastened to 
the end of a slender bamboo, so that the blade points 
obliquely downward, toward the lower end. A good 
pull severs the stalk of the nut cluster. For work in 
groves of much age additional pieces of bamboo are 
slid into the lower end of the first one and firmly tied ; 



168 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



several of these extra joints have to be used in old 
groves. When the nuts are cut in this way the crowns 
are not cleaned, and the trees thrive on this kind of 
neglect. Another advantage is that the trees are not 
notched. And this is the most expeditious way in 
which nuts can be cut down. There would seem to be 
somewhat more danger of cutting greener nuts than are 
wanted than there is when the tree is climbed ; but 
the gatherers are so well acquainted with their business 
that they usually know exactly what they are getting. 

When the trees are to be climbed the commonest 
practice is to cut notches at convenient intervals on the 
alternate sides of the tree, so that the climber holds the 
tree with his hands and walks up it. If the notches are 
not cut in too young wood, and are not made too deep, 
they do not seem to injure the tree ; but these condi- 
tions cannot be guaranteed. In groves of notched trees 
there are always many individuals showing deep decayed 
spots, starting from the notches. The notches must 
also permit occasional attack by red beetles and fungi. 
The safest practice is certainly never to touch a healthy 
tree with a knife. 

In the extreme west of Africa the natives stick pegs 
in the side of the tree and use these as steps. 

It is possible to climb the trunk and cut down the 
nuts without any special arrangements whatever. This 
seems from Prudhomme's account to be the practice in a 
large part of Madagascar, where the native climbers are 
said to become so expert that any special devices would 
seem superfluous. 

In many places, for instance in Ceylon and India, it 
is common practice to facilitate the climbing by passing 
the feet through a loop just long enough to hold them 
where they will hold the trunk most tightly. The loop 
is most effective if twisted once between the feet. 
Holding the trunk with the feet and the hands the 
climber goes up it like a measuring worm. A longer 
rope or band passing around the trunk of the tree and 
the hips or waist of the climber is sometimes used as a 



V 



FIELD CULTURE 



169 



help in climbing, and is very useful when the top is 
reached. The climber leans back, pulling it tight, and 
then has both hands free for his work. This arrange- 
ment is used by the toddy -gatherers of Ceylon and 
India, and in collecting the nuts by the Bicols of 
southern Luzon. It may be regarded as the most 
refined method of cutting down the nuts. 

In spots in the Dutch Indies and in Sarawak 
monkeys are sometimes trained to climb trees and throw 
nuts down. Regarding Sarawak, this statement is 
made on the personal observation of Dr. Foxworthy. 
Most of the monkeys are held and controlled by a cord 
while they work, but some of them become expert and 
reliable enough so that they are let loose and will 
collect only ripe nuts. A few of these trained monkeys 
are exported from Sarawak to the Malay States. 



CHAPTER VI 

COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 

Toddy. — If you cut or break the skin and continue 
to irritate the spot, there will be produced a sore from 
which a fluid which is not blood will be excreted. This 
flow of fluid is not due to pressure from the inside, but 
is excreted by the activity of the sore itself. The same 
treatment will produce a similar result from a mass of 
active vegetable tissue, and this fact is taken advantage 
of to secure a flow of juice from various palms. The 
juice obtained in this way from the palms is always 
rich in cane sugar (sucrose), and may therefore be used 
as a beverage, or for the manufacture of an alcoholic 
beverage, or of sugar, or of vinegar. Where palm saps 
are the base of any considerable commerce, they are 
usually obtained from the Palmyra or Nipa palm or 
from a species of Phoenix, rather than from the 
coco-nut, which furnishes other products which are 
better adapted to taking a place on the world's markets. 

The general practice in producing a palm wine from 
the coco-nut is to use for the purpose such coco-nuts as 
are already at hand ; these are usually trees which have 
been planted for the production of nuts. It has already 
been pointed out, in the discussion of varieties, that the 
dwarf varieties which come into bearing after about 
four years, which ought never to be planted for copra 
production, have great and evident advantages as 
sources of toddy, and should always be planted when 
this is expected to be the chief source of revenue. 

170 



( 

I 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 171 



The method of obtaining the sap differs with the 
different palms. In the case of the coco-nut the sap is 
obtained from the unopened inflorescence. The first step 
in securing it is to bend the inflorescence down so that 
the sap will drip freely from the cut end. This bending 
must be done slowly and carefully in order that the 
stem of the inflorescence may not be broken. The 
operation begins when the inflorescence is 45 to 75 
centimetres long, in general when its length is about 
60 centimetres. The toddy-collector recognizes as a 
mere matter of general judgment the proper condition 
for the beginning of this work. If a rule is called for 
in the Philippines, that given is that an inflorescence is 
ready for the bending to begin when the next younger 
inflorescence has about reached the length of 10 centi- 
metres. The bending is done two or three times a 
day, the tip being drawn downward a very little each 
time, and the whole operation requiring one or two 
weeks. When the bending down is more than half 
done the tip of the inflorescence is removed with a 
sharp knife, enough being cut off so that the upper 
ends of the younger branches of the panicle are also cut. 

In Java it is customary to remove at the same 
time the entire bract (the spathe) which enclosed the 
panicle, but this is not done in the Philippines, Ceylon, 
or India. If this is done, it is obviously necessary to 
tie the branches of the panicle very firmly, so that they 
may not spread out at all. In Ceylon and India it is 
customary to bind the bract very firmly by taking a 
thong and winding it around the inflorescence, working 
from the base upward, and putting in a knot each 
time that the thong goes around the spathe. This is 
sometimes done in the Philippines, but is not a general 
practice, to prevent such a growth of the inflorescence 
as would burst the spathe. It is also the practice in 
Ceylon and India to pound the cut end and the outside 
of the bract with a bone or piece of hard wood. The 
beating bruises the cut surface and contributes to the 
production of the condition of the wound which will 



172 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



result in the flow of sap ; and also by slightly bruising 
the unexpanded inflorescence inside the bract, contributes 
to preventing such a growth as would burst the latter. 

In the Philippines and Java the usual practice is to 
rely on the cutting alone to produce the flow of sap. 
After the tip of the spathe has been removed the cut 
is renewed morning and night, and sometimes a third 
time daily, a very thin slice being removed each time, 
with as sharp a knife as possible. The length of time 
that this treatment must continue before the sap 
begins to flow depends upon the expertness of the 
worker, and probably upon the condition of the tree as 
well. A good worker will get a flow of sap after three 
days ; but the time said to be usually necessary in 
some countries is four or five days, or sometimes even 
longer. When the sap begins to flow, a vessel is tied 
under the tip of the inflorescence to receive it as it 
drops. For this purpose a joint of bamboo is always 
used in the Philippines and Malaya, while in India and 
Ceylon an earthenware jar is employed. An explana- 
tion of this difference may be that in the Philippines 
the sap is used only as a beverage or for production of 
liquor, while in India the toddy is often used to make 
sugar. The top of the bamboo is sometimes screened 
in Java. In the Philippines there is not only no care 
taken to keep this bamboo jar clean, but a clean joint 
of bamboo is regarded as unsuitable ; the reason for 
this being that bamboo tubes which have been used 
contain ferments which hasten the production of 
alcohol in the toddy. To prevent attack by insects, or 
fermentation in the cut tip, a Philippine practice is to 
put the juice of red pepper on it daily. 

In Ceylon and India the practice is for the toddy- 
collector to climb each tree. These men are known in 
Ceylon as " sanars," and naturally become exceedingly 
expert climbers. They climb the trees by the aid of a 
rope which fastens the ankles together, and at the top 
of the tree pass another rope around the tree and their 
own bodies, so that both hands are left free for work. 




GROVE DEVOTED TO TODDY, LA LAGUNA. 
Photograph, Reimold. 

To face page 172. 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 173 



The usual work of one sanar is to care for thirty or 
forty trees. In the Philippines it is customary to 
devote a solid grove to toddy production, and to 
connect the trees of this grove by bamboos, which are 
tied from tree to tree just far enough below the crown 
so as to provide a convenient stand for the toddy- 
collector's work. Each of these bridges is made of two 
bamboos, one to walk on and one to hold to. The 
toddy - collector always carries a vessel, whether a 
bamboo or not, into which he pours the sap which has 
flowxd from each inflorescence, leaving in its old place 
the vessel into which the sap has dropped. By the 
method in use in the Philippines it is common for one 
collector to take care of as many as a hundred trees. 
Each time that the tree is visited another thin slice is 
removed from the cut surface. Expertness in this work 
consists very largely in the removal of the thinnest 
possible slice by a single clean stroke of the knife. If 
the cut is not a clean one the flow of toddy is interfered 
with, and the thinner the slice the longer the flow of 
toddy can be kept up from each inflorescence. 

The business is so highly developed in the Philip- 
pines that one special form of knife is made for 
the cleaning of the inflorescence which goes with the 
bending, and another special form of knife for the 
slicing of the cut end. These knives are not articles of 
commerce but are made locally for the purpose. Failure 
to remove the slice when the toddy is collected results 
promptly in a decreased flow. If a slice is removed 
three times daily instead of in the morning and at 
night only, a greater flow can be obtained for the 
twenty-four hours. But this increase is not proportional 
to the number of slices removed, and therefore results 
in a decrease in the total yield of an inflorescence. 

If the work is expertly done, each inflorescence will 
continue to give a good flow until the remaining stub 
becomes so short that it is not practicable to collect the 
juice, or until only the stem of the inflorescence remains. 
In Ceylon a single inflorescence flows for thirty or 



174 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



forty days, or less. The result is that the usual number 
of inflorescences producing toddy at one time is the 
most of the time only one on a tree. In the Philippines 
there are usually two inflorescences being tapped on a 
tree, and it is not rare to find three. If a tree is used 
exclusively for toddy production it becomes weakened 
after a time, the flow of sap decreases, and the tree 
may be permanently injured. To prevent this the 
Ceylon practice is said to be to permit about one in- 
florescence in three to produce nuts. In the Philippines 
every inflorescence of the tree is used for some months, 
and the tree is then given a rest and allowed to produce 
nuts only for some time. 

With regard to the yield of sap there is a wide 
divergence in the figures given. The yield obtained 
depends very largely upon the expertness of the 
collector and also on the condition of the tree, which in 
turn is much influenced by the weather. In periods of 
drought the yield is much less than when the tree is 
well supplied with water. There is one statement 
quoted from Watt's Dictionary of Economic Products 
of India after Cleghorn, that forty trees yield about 
12 Madras measures daily, seven in the morning and 
five in the evening ; this indicates a production by each 
tree of about 200 cc. a day. Another statement by 
Watt after Shortt is that the average quantity obtained 
is three or four quarts daily for two or three weeks 
from each spathe. Watt further states that in 
Ratn&gire the yield is 35 to 64 imperial gallons a year ; 
and in Kolaba, 2 '2 litres a day or 477 litres a month, 
the latter rate being equivalent to 1*56 litres a day. 
The most careful measurements from Java are those of 
Molisch, who obtained 0*57 of a litre a day for fourteen 
days, 0*54 of a litre for nine days, and 0'3 to 0*4 of a 
litre, daily for fourteen days, from three different in- 
florescences. Molisch found at one time a flow of more 
than a litre a day from a single spathe. 

Gibbs has recently made careful observations, on a 
large scale, of the yield in the Philippines. For one 




INTERIOR OF DISTILLERY. 

To face page 174. 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 175 



year, from April 1909 to April 1910, the average daily 
yield of 5785 trees, which furnish toddy for seven 
distilleries in Tayabas, was 0*65 of a litre. The 
averages for the different distilleries varied from 0*36 
of a litre daily for 700 trees up to 1*03 litres daily for 
1052 trees. These differences could not be explained 
by Gibbs except on the supposition that in many cases, 
or in all,- the want of expert treatment resulted in a 
much smaller yield than might have been obtained. 
Accordingly, he had measurements made on 100 
supposedly average trees in the groves whose product 
was brought to one of the distilleries. These measure- 
ments continued over 33 days, and the average 
yield was 1*435 litres per day for each tree. Two of 
the days were rainy, and leaving these out of account 
the average for 31 clear days was 1*38 litres. Since 
the average yield for all the trees under observation 
for the year was 0'65 of a litre, while 1*38 litres were 
obtained by especially expert collecting, Gibbs concludes 
that intelligent management will increase the production 
per tree by more than 112 per cent. There is no 
doubt that this high rate of production would exhaust 
the tree rather rapidly. Nevertheless, the principal 
item in the cost of toddy is the collecting, and it would 
therefore be a very great improvement in the business 
if the collectors were all expert, and the trees given 
correspondingly longer resting periods. 

There are Philippine data available on a still larger 
scale. For the calendar year 1909 there were tapped 
for toddy in the province of La Laguna 10,109 trees, 
and the total yield was 2,103,286 litres, or an average 
for the year of 208 litres per tree. 

Composition of the Sap. — Gibbs's analysis of the 
composition of sap in which fermentation had been pre- 
vented as completely as possible shows the following 
results : 



[Table 



176 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Sample 
No. 


Flow 
from one 
flower- 
stalk 
during 
the night. 


Density 
-15° 
15° 


Total 
solids. 


Ash. 


Polariza- 
tion at 
30°. 


Sucrose 
in 100 
cu. cm. 


Invert 
sugar. 


Preservative 
employed. 




ce. 
















1 


665 


1-0675 


17-75 


0-38 


15-02 


15-66 


0-87 


1 cc. formalin 


2 


635 


1-0686 


18-08 


0-40 


14-28 


14-99 


1-78 




3 


575 


1-0670 


17-25 


0-34 


14-92 


15-55 


0*39 


1 g. HgCl 2 


4 


470 


1-0683 


17-97 


0-36 


15-23 


15-89 






5 


360 


1-0670 


17-95 


0-39 


10-75 


12-95 


7 13 


>> 

1 cc. formalin 


6 


360 


1-0670 


17-95 


0-32 


14-12 


14-42 


1-53 




7 


440 


1-0720 


19-13 


0-39 


15-31 


16-02 


0-71 


1 g. HgCl 2 


8 


440 


1-0680 


18-32 


0-47 


14-99 


16-49 


071 





The first four trees in this table were forty years old, 
and the last four twenty to twenty-five years. Each tree 
had two flower clusters giving sap at the time the sample 
was collected. Five of the samples showed no acidity, 
two contained 0*03 of 1 per cent figured as acetic acid, 
and one contained 0'08 of 1 per cent. Only one of the 
samples showed a trace of alcohol. 

From this table, and from some other analyses, 
Gibbs concludes that perfectly fresh sap may be expected 
to have about the following composition, stated in 
grams per 100 cc. 



Density 


1-07 


Total solids . . . . . 


17-5 


Acidity ....... 


Trace 


Ash 


0-40 


Sucrose ....... 


16-5 


Invert sugar ...... 


Trace 


Undetermined nitrogenous compounds, etc. 


0-60 



Keducing sugars are nearly or quite absent in the 
perfectly fresh sap. 

This sap no sooner falls from the tree than its com- 
position begins to change ; and if the fermentations in 
it are not interfered with, they go through a series of 
which the first is under the influence of an unorganized 
ferment or enzyme, called invertase. This is formed in 
the sap in the presence of oxygen, and acts with 
remarkable speed, so that by the time the toddy is 
collected from the trees but little sucrose remains, and 



I 

VI 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 177 



the sap is rich in reducing sugars unless these in their 
turn have been fermented. The reducing sugars are 
fermented, with alcohol as a main product, by means 
of yeast. As the alcohol accumulates, it, in turn, is 
acted upon by still a third ferment, in this case a 
bacterium, and this time the principal product is acetic 
acid. How rapidly this series of fermentations goes on is 
illustrated by one of Gibbs's analyses of a sample preserved 
at 10 o'clock in the morning, the sap being that which 
flowed during the preceding night. The analysis is 
given in grammes per 100 cu. cm. 



Density 


. 1-01 


Total solids . 


. 3-72 


Acidity as acetic . 


. 0-68 


Alcohol 


. 6-00 


Ash . 


. 0-41 


Sucrose 


. 0-29 


Invert sugar 


. 1-95 



How far these fermentations should be allowed to 
proceed and what efforts should be taken to prevent 
them depend of course upon the use which is to be 
made of the toddy. 

The principal uses of the toddy are : 
First : As a fresh beverage. 

Second : For the production of alcoholic beverages. 

Third : For the production of sugar. 

Fourth : For the production of vinegar. 
The last of these is of comparatively little importance. 
Another minor use is as a source of yeast for making 
bread. Throughout the East, toddy is the usual source 
of yeast, both for indigenous people and for Europeans. 

Fresh toddy will usually have about the alcohol 
content indicated in the above analysis, that is, 6 per 
cent, unless pains have been taken to prevent the 
alcoholic fermentation. In some parts of the East it is 
usually used with about this amount of alcohol, while in 
others the preference is for a sweeter and fresher drink. 
Where the demand is for a moderately alcoholic beverage, 
no attempt is made to keep the vessels in which the toddy 

N 



178 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



is collected clean. In Java the more general demand is 
for a sweet drink, and to secure this the bamboo vessels 
used are changed each time the toddy is collected, and 
a new one, or one which has been carefully cleaned, is 
used for each collection. Where earthenware vessels 
are used, the same pains are taken for the same purpose. 

The value of the toddy depends altogether on the 
local demand for it and on the supply. Its taste is 
somewhat different from that of toddies obtained from 
other palms, so that its price is not fixed by the latter. 
It sells at a higher price than some of the other palms' 
saps. In the Philippines, the commonest price is one 
centavo a glass. Where the sap is scarce for any reason 
the price is high, and where there is a large distilling 
business the price is low because this is above the price 
paid by the distillers. 

The toddy remains a desirable drink for a very short 
time, and therefore is never an object of other than local 
business. In the neighbourhood of cities, large numbers 
of coco-nut trees can be used for its production, but on 
plantations, or where there is an extensive coco-nut 
industry, only a very small fraction of the trees can be 
tapped with profit. So far as the market exists, this 
use of the tree is a very profitable one. Welborn figures 
that at two cents for each collection from a tree and 
collecting the sap twice daily, the total yield of a tree 
will be 14*60 fl. per annum, while the usual rental value 
of a coco-nut tree is only two guilders. The fresh toddy 
has a peculiar taste which is not usually found agreeable 
at the first taste, but for which an appetite is easily 
acquired. 

Sugar. — The use of coco-nut toddy as a source of 
sugar is very old throughout the Far East. The 
business, however, is everywhere a purely local one. 
The sugar content of the sap as it flows from the tree 
is high enough for the sap to be figured as - a cheap 
source of cane sugar, but the fermentation is so rapid 
that the sugar which can be made from it is decidedly 
high-priced. Where there is a considerable commerce 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 179 



in palm sugar in southern India, the coco-nut is not its 
source. For personal use, many of the peoples of 
Malaya and Polynesia prefer coco-nut sugar to cane 
sugar because of its flavour, and in certain parts of 
Java, especially in Bagalen and Kedoe, there is a 
sufficient manufacture of it to amount to a local 
industry of some importance. The same is true on the 
west coast of Sumatra. For the manufacture of sugar, 
it is necessary to inhibit the fermentation of the sap as 
completely as possible. The commonest way of doing 
this in Malaya and Ceylon is to put into the vessels 
which collect the sap a little of some finely powdered 
bark which is rich in tannin. The sugar which is 
produced in this way is called "jaggery." From good 
sap, -j^r the weight of jaggery can be produced. The 
quality of the jaggery depends altogether upon the care 
with which it is prepared. It can be refined and made 
into a clean, white sugar, but this is rarely done, and 
probably does not increase its commercial value. 

Arrack. — Arrack is the Malay name of strong liquor, 
and has been taken up by Europeans for the liquor 
distilled from palm saps. In the Philippines this name 
is found in the form " alak," but the product is now 
generally known by the Spanish word " vino " (" Bino "), 
although strictly speaking it is a brandy rather than a 
wine. The manufacture of arrack, whether as a local 
industry or on a reasonably extensive scale, is wide- 
spread in the East and in most places under strict 
governmental supervision. In Ceylon the revenues reach 
two million pesos a year. In the Philippines the direct 
tax on the manufacture of coco-nut arrack in 1910 was 
P6 9 8,823, and the business is increasing from year to 
year. From taxes on the traffic in alcoholic liquors, 
the government derives considerable additional revenue. 

The amount of yield of arrack and its value can best 
be shown by reproducing G-ibbs's tables. 



[Table 



180 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



The Cost op Production and the Selling Price op Coco Distillates, 
"together with the Available Data for the Production from a 
pew Distilleries and Provinces during the Calendar Year 1909. 



The prices in this table are expressed in Philippine currency. One peso is equivalent 
to $0 '50 of United States currency. Proof alcohol is 50 per cent. 



irrovmcG* 


Distillery No. 


Tuba distilled during 
1909. 


Total for province. 


Litres of tuba re- 
quired to produce 1 
proof litre of alcohol. 


Per cent of alcohol 
obtained from the 
tuba. 


Average proof of 
spirits sold. 


Cost of producing 
1 proof litre exclu- 
sive of tax. 


Average price per 
proof litre. 






litres. 


litres. 












Tayabas . . 


1 


162,355 


1,273,396 


7-40 


676 


90-50 


0*19 


0-50 


2 


261,193 




8-23 


6-07 


82-00 


0-20 


0-52 




3 


280,899 




8-43 


5-93 


86-50 




52 




4 


93,096 




7-52 


6-65 


90-50 




0-49 




5 


89,698 




8-18 


6-11 




V 21 


0-54 




6 


148,204 




7-85 


6-37 




0-22 


0-54 






215,751 




7-89 


6-33 






0-55 


Laguna . . 


All 


2,103,286 


2,103,286 


7-84 


6-38 


78-00 




0-425 


Albay . . . 


1 


633,719 


1,145,119 


8-35 


5-99 


57-00 




0-466 


2 


511,400 




10-30 


4-85 


58-50 




0-41 


A. Camarines. 


1 


337,820 


1,257,163 


7-60 


6*58 


55-00 




0-39 


99 


2 


478,760 




8-65 


5-78 


60-00 




0-407 


it 


3 


386,400 




7-84 


6-38 


60-00 




0-40 


5 > 


4 


554,183 




8-88 


5-63 


55-00 




0-39 



Record op Thirty Days' Run op Seven Distilleries in the 
Province op Tayabas. 



Distillery No. 


Number of trees 
in use. 


Number of days 
of production dur- 
ing the period. 


Sap handled dur- 
ing this period 
in litres. 


Litres of sap 
handled in the 
stills on working 
days. 


Daily produc- 
tion from each 
tree. 


Number of 
proof litres 
of alcohol 
produced. 


Average 
proof of the 
alcohol. 


Percentage yield 
of alcohol from 
the sap. 


High 
grade. 


Low 
grade. 


High 
grade. 


Low 
grade. 


126 


697 


15 


12,117 


807 


0'60 


438 


968 


96 


87 


5'4 


325 


1,050 


17 


36,480 


2,146 


1-16 


1,249 


3,306 


92 


72 


6-2 


329 


1,086 


20 


21,060 


1,053 


0-64 


1,872 


769 


94 


83 


6-3 


372 


400 


7 


5,062 


723 


0-42 


460 


193 


95 


86 


6-1 


532 


700 


6 


7,427 


1,238 


0-35 


973 


None 


96 




6-6 


533 


1,000 


14 


18,106 


1,293 


0-60 


2,172 


None 


97 




6-0 


604 


850 


13 


24,240 


1,865 


0-95 


2,817 




94 




5-8 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 181 



It appears from this table that the average yield of 
alcohol from the toddy is 6*1 per cent by volume, equiva- 
lent to an original sucrose content of 9*5 per cent. Since 
the sugar in the fresh sap is from 3 to 7 per cent above 
this, there has evidently been a very high loss. This is 
in part due to fermentations which are unavoidable, but 
in large part to careless handling. Along with the 
inversion of the sugar, and the alcoholic and acetic 
fermentations, there is always more or less activity of 
putrefactive organisms. This can largely be prevented 
by cleanliness. An analysis of the figures given in the 
last table for distillery No. 325 shows that the daily 
production of proof spirits by the distillery was 268 
litres, or 0*255 litres of proof spirits per day for each 
tree. Now, if the profit of the proof spirits be figured, 
for the distillers in the Philippines, from the data in the 
preceding tables, the profit per day per tree would seem 
to be 3*8 centavos, or a total profit for the year for each 
tree of PI 5 '96. 

Vinegar. — It is generally stated by writers on coco- 
nut and its product from various countries that a 
superior vinegar can be made from the coco-nut toddy, 
and for local use such vinegar is made in various places. 
This vinegar is usually regarded as having a superior 
flavour, and it keeps well. The only reason that it is 
not made on a large scale and has never become an 
article of commerce is probably the high price of the 
toddy as compared with other sources of vinegar of 
good quality. For the manufacture of vinegar, care 
must be taken to prevent any putrefaction in the sap. 
This is done by the use of bark rich in tannin or by 
coating the vessels with lime. The tannin will pre- 
cipitate a large part of the nitrogenous material in the 
sap, and it is this material which is the essential subject 
of putrefactive fermentation. 

The advisability of using trees for the production of 
toddy is a purely local business question. So far as there 
is a local demand for the toddy, a tree will always yield a 
greater gross revenue if tapped than if used for the 



182 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



production of copra ; but local demands are limited and 
this business can therefore not assume a great scale in 
the sense in which the copra market or oil market is 
great. 

COIR 

Coir is the commercial name of the fibre prepared 
from the husk of the coco-nut. The word is Malay or 
Indian in origin, but has been adopted into European 
languages. In countries where coco-nut culture is very 
old, the use of this fibre likewise dates further back 
than our knowledge reaches. In Polynesia and extend- 
ing as far west as the Marianne and Caroline islands, 
this is the main material used for cordage. It was in 
use as far west as Ceylon before the discovery of this 
part of the world by Europeans. In these parts of the 
world it served not merely for rope, and for string to 
make fish nets, or to tie the parts of houses together, 
but to caulk boats, and in various other ways. For 
caulking boats it is better than most other durable 
fibres because it will swell more when put into water, 
and will therefore make a tighter plug. 

The chief peculiarity of coir rope is its elasticity. 
The coco-nut fibre will stretch fully 25 per cent without 
breaking. The amount which ropes made of it will 
stretch depends upon the method of manufacture, but 
in all cases they will stretch more than ropes made of 
any other of the commercial fibres. This makes coir 
rope especially desirable where it is subject to jerks. 
As used for fish nets, and in other ways which demand 
exposure to water, coir has the advantage that it is 
more durable than most other fibres ; that is, it is less 
subject to decay. Its tensile strength and its resistance 
to decay are illustrated by the following table : 



[Table 



VI 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 



183 



Name of Fibre. 


Breaking strength 


Breaking strength. 


when fresh. 


after 116 days in water. 




kg. 


kg- 


A 7 

Afenga saccliarijera 


to 




ooir .... 


Ov 


OA 


Jute .... 


30-31 


18-22 


Sanseviera zeylanica 


04 


1 o 

16 


Crotalaria juncea . 


31 


decayed 


English hemp 


47 


j> 


Calcutta hemp 


34 


>j 


Agave americana . 


50 


5? 



Of the fibres represented in this table then, the most 
resistant to decay are Arenga (the sugar-palm, Cabo 
Negro) and after it coir. Arenga is the best of them 
where it can be obtained, and is accordingly first choice 
in all such places, but it is not an article of general 
commerce. 

In the comparison of fibres it is a matter of interest 
to know the relative measurements of the cells which 
make up the strand of fibre, and the word fibre is some- 
times applied not to a whole strand but to one of these 
individual cells. When these cells are very long they 
are accordingly fastened firmly together. Other things 
being equal, the longer the cell the stronger the strand 
of texture. The following table, taken from Lecomte's 
Textiles Vegetaux, gives these data for a few of the 
important commercial fibres : 



Name of Fibre. 


Average length 


Average diameter 


in mm. 


in microns. 


Boehmeria nivea — Ramie . 


150 


40 


Cannabis sativa — Hemp . 


28 


20 


Linum usitatissimum — Flax 


20 


25 


Musa textilis — Abaca 


6 


24 


Agave americana — Hennequin . 


2-5 


24 


Corchorus — Jute 


1-9 


17-5 


Cocos nucifera — Coir 


07 


20 



184 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Of the fibres which have been incorporated in the 
table — and it represents the most of the important 
commercial fibres which are extracted from the tissues of 
plants — the coir has the shortest individual cells. 

The strands which are extracted from the husk of the 
coco-nuts and which are referred to in common speech 
as the fibres are 30 cm. more or less in length, depend- 
ing of course on the size of the nut from which they 
are taken. The diameter is about 0*3 mm. In cross 
section, they are roundish or somewhat heart-shaped, 
the concavity or groove along one side being the place 
where the vessels were located. The strands are harsh and 
more or less dark in colour according to the nuts from 
which they were secured and the method by which the 
fibre was extracted. The fibre is strongly lignified, and 
to this is due its colour and harshness, and its relative 
brittleness as compared with pure cellulose fibres. 

From what has been said as to the qualities of the 
coir, it follows that for ropes it is to be recommended 
where elasticity or resistance to decay are especially 
desired ; but for general use it is an inferior cordage 
material because the brittleness of the strand makes it 
wear out more rapidly than many other kinds of rope, 
and because it is weaker than the best rope material. 
As a textile fibre it is of' very little general value 
because of its coarseness, harshness, brittleness and 
colour. The colour can be removed, at least in very 
large part, by chemical bleaching, but this treatment 
leaves it too weak for practical use. On the other 
hand, the qualities of harshness and stiffness and dark 
colour all make it an especially good material for door- 
mats and hall-mats and for various kinds of brushes. 
It is for these uses that the coir has its chief market 
value. This combination of stiffness and elasticity also 
gives it a certain value as a stuffing fibre, and the poorer 
qualities of coir are marketed, under the name of 
mattress fibre, for such use. 

The market value of coir, as compared with other 
vegetable fibres, is indicated by the following table, 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 185 



showing quotations at Havre, September 19, 1913. The 
prices are stated in francs per hundred kilogrammes. 



Sisal 


. Good Mexican 

Good superior Javan 


Francs. 

74-77 
87-88 


Abaca 


. Superior 
Good current 
Fair current 


168-178 
145-149 
76-78 


Mauritius 


. Superior 
Good 


72-73-50 
66-68 


Maguey . 


. Manila No. 1 
Cebu No. 1 


48-50 
65-70 


Jute 


Calcutta superior 
Best native 


85-86 
75-77 


Ramie 


. Fine 
Good 


120-125 
100-115 


Coir 


. Superior 
Good 


54-59 
44-46 


Kapok 


. Java extra 
Calcutta 


155-185 
114-130 


Cotton . 


Sea Island extra fine 
Upland middling 
Bengal fine 


380 
178 
120 



There has never been as careful a study of the 
source of coir and of the natural qualities of the husk 
of the coco-nuts under different conditions as the im- 
portance of the product would justify. While there 
are no definite statistics on the subject, there is still no 
doubt that certain varieties of coco-nut are more 
valuable than others for the manufacture of fibre, and 
that there is a proper time for the harvesting of the 
crop for this purpose, before which and after which the 
coir is less in quantity, and less valuable weight for 
weight. What this time is cannot be stated definitely, 
but may roughly be said to be the beginning of the 
maturing of the nut. It may be the time at which the 
nut as a whole is largest, or may be a little later than 
this, but is certainly considerably before the time when 



186 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the nut should be harvested to get the greatest and 
best yield of copra. As the ripening of the nut goes 
on, the coir becomes exceedingly lignified, and so dark, 
harsh, and brittle that its value decreases very 
materially. 

With regard to the variety of nuts, some of those 
found in the Laccadive and Maldive islands have the 
best reputation in this respect. There are also some 
ill-defined varieties in Ceylon and southern India which 
are preferred for this use. These districts furnish 
almost all of the coir which is an article of European 
commerce. Ceylon has first place in this respect, but 
the product of Cochin has been regarded as the best in 
quality, with the result that the term " Cochin coir " 
has come to mean not merely that which originates in 
Cochin but the finest quality whatever its source. The 
condition here is exactly the same which obtains with 
the oil of the coco-nut. 

From what has been said with regard to the variety 
and the nuts, it is evident that the same trees cannot 
be made to produce coir to the best purpose, and oil to 
the best purpose, but that one or the other product 
must be in a measure sacrificed. The planter must 
decide according to market and local conditions which 
he best can treat as a by-product. As a general con- 
dition, the copra or oil is certainly the more valuable, 
and any planter who selected varieties primarily for 
their yield of fibre, or who harvested his nuts before 
full maturity for the sake of the coir, would fail under 
present general conditions — and these conditions are 
likely to be quite permanent — to get the greatest 
possible returns. 

It is not many years in an industrial sense since the 
extraction of the coco-nut fibre was carried on altogether 
by hand. The first step is obviously the removal of 
the husk from the nuts and is therefore the same as the 
first step in copra manufacture, except where, as in 
Samoa, it is customary to split the entire nut, husk and 
all. The husks are then macerated by soaking in water, 



VI 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 187 



whether fresh, stagnant, or salt, until the fibres can be 
freed easily from the waste matter in which they are 
imbedded. How long this takes depends on how the 
maceration is performed and on what means are used 
to clean the fibre after it is completed. When the fibre 
is to be cleaned by hand, and the retting is done in 
clean, fresh water, the husks are said to be left in it for 
at least several months, and sometimes for as much as 
a year and a half. In salt water maceration is more 
rapid, and in stagnant water still more so. Further 
the maceration may be hastened by boiling or by skin- 
ning the husk, and it is a common practice to hasten the 
decay by opening the husks before the soaking begins, 
so that the water may immediately penetrate the in- 
terior. If the soaking stops soon enough, the fibre is 
hard and clean ; but if it continues too long, the fibre 
becomes dark enough to lower its value, and loses its 
strength by decay. It should therefore be allowed to 
go on as short a time as will make it economically 
possible to clean the fibre. When the cleaning is done 
by hand, the husks, after soaking, are beaten thoroughly 
and then scraped and combed. The more thoroughly 
this is done, the better price the product will bring. 

The larger part of the fibre put on the market, and 
the fibre of best quality, is now the product of factories 
where the work is done by machinery. In the best 
equipped of these factories, the husks are soaked in 
concrete tanks in fresh water and for only two or three 
days. They are then taken out and subjected to a 
mechanical combing by a device which holds them 
against a revolving cylinder set with long sharp teeth. 
This combing is repeated perhaps four times. After 
this, the fibre is washed by brushing in fresh water, and 
this is continued until the fibre is practically clean. It 
is then dried in the sun, either in open yards, or, in the 
best establishments, on concrete courts. When well 
dried it is again combed by hand and at the same 
time sorted into different qualities. This combing and 
sorting may be repeated two or three times, and finally 



188 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



the product is put up according to grades. The better 
part of it is put up in small packages of about 7 
kilogrammes, and is known as bristle fibre ; the bristle 
fibre in turn may be in several grades according to 
length and other qualities. From the fibre which is not 
fit for bristle fibre, chiefly, that is, from the residue from 
the hand combing, the dust is beaten and shaken out, 
and the resulting irregular fibre is put up in bales and 
goes on to the market as the better quality of mattress 
fibre. A poorer quality, containing the fibres made 
from the waste of the mechanical combing, or these 
mixed with inferior waste from the hand combing as 
well, is known as baled fibre, and marketed in that 
form. Still another factory product, which is made by 
twisting into cord the fibre which is a waste product 
from the sorting of the bristle fibre, is known as coir 
yarn. 

In this factory work there is a man in charge of 
each of the mechanical combs, and these men have the 
help of boys in keeping the pieces of husk constantly 
applied to the cylinders. This work is paid by the 
task. For four combings, the factory price in Ceylon 
is PlO'OO a cwt. The washing and drying are done 
by women, who receive about 8 centavos a cwt. of 
coir. A good day's work is the washing and cleaning 
of 200-250 kilogrammes of fibre, in which case the wage 
is about one peseta. The workers around the establish- 
ment are paid in general not more than 30 centavos 
a day. A coir industry in places where labour is better 
paid must work at a considerable industrial disadvantage 
as compared with a similar establishment in Ceylon. 
With regard to the yield, a thousand husks, that is, the 
husk of a thousand nuts, will yield 68 to 79 kilogrammes 
of coir if the manufacture is by hand, or about 89 
kilogrammes of coir in well regulated factories ; and this 
89 kilogrammes is made up of 6675 of bristle, and 22*25 
kilogrammes of mattress fibre. Where the manufacture 
of coir is performed on the plantation, or in connection 
with oil or copra making, the price of the husks does not 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 189 



appear by itself; but where coir manufacture is a separate 
business, the husks are bought from the surrounding 
coco-nut planters, and the usual price is P2*00 a 
thousand. 

It has already been stated that coir has not become 
a factory product nor an article of commerce except in 
and near Ceylon. In the Philippines, the Government 
at one time assembled a quantity of husks, locally called 
" binuti," at its San Eamon farm, but did nothing with 
them. The best natural location in the Islands for such 
an industry would be Pagsanjan, where twenty-five to 
fifty thousand nuts a day can be secured steadily ; but 
the price of labour is higher than coir manufacture can 
stand. 

In Java a company was organized not long ago at 
Koetoardjo, Eesidency Kadoe, 1 for the manufacture of 
coir and coir products for the European market. 
Opinions as to its chance of success differed. Hoyer, 
a Government expert sent to British India to investigate 
the business, recommended the use of locally-made 
machines modelled after a successful Singalese type, 
and had two of these made ; but at the same time that 
he reports the successful working of the machines he 
says the fibre is inferior to that of Ceylon, and the 
cost of production greater. Vlaanderen 2 states that 
Javan husks may be expected to produce 80 to 
115 g. of textile fibre, and 30 to 40 g. of brush fibre 
each ; but to allow for the inferior quality charged by 
Hoyer, these figures are cut down to Ceylon standard 
estimates of 60 g. db textile and 12 g. ± bristle fibre 
per nut, and 100 nuts a year from a tree. Taking as 
normal London prices crude fibre £6 per metric ton, 
coir yarn, etc., £15 per metric ton, bristle fibre fl.25 per 
metric ton, the gross returns figure out, per tree and 
per annum, fl.0*79 if sold as fibre, or fl.1'44 if all the 
inferior fibre is made into coir yarn. The chief fault of 
estimates is that one cannot know how much they 

1 Bull. Kolon. Mus. Harlem, 48 (1909) 15. 
2 Ibid. p. 47. 



190 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



should be discounted. A study of the coir possibilities 
in Indo-China led to the conclusion that the husks are 
most valuable there as fuel. They serve this use well 
throughout the tropics. 

COPRA 

Copra is the most important, in a plantation sense, 
of the products of the coco-nut. It is not itself an 
article of ultimate consumption, but has its place on the 
world's markets because of the oil it contains. In most 
coco-nut countries, or, at any rate, on most plantations, 
it is not practicable to make and ship oil, but it is 
everywhere economically possible to prepare and market 
copra. Where conditions are all favourable, it is good 
business to manufacture oil on the plantation. This 
demands apparatus of some kind for the extraction of 
the oil, and containers for shipment. But it has the 
advantages that transportation on everything except 
the oil is saved for the planter, and that the oil-cake is 
available for local use. However useful the oil-cake 
may be on the plantation, whether to feed, to stock, or 
for direct use as a fertilizer, its money value is, as a 
rule, so much greater in Europe than it is in coco-nut- 
growing countries as to pay for the cost of its transporta- 
tion. In fact, oil mills iu the Philippines have been 
driven out of business because the copra buyers were 
able, at least for a time, to bid for the local copra the 
whole of its oil value, paying the cost of transportation 
and the profit on the business from the oil-cake which 
could be put on the French market. 

The importance of proper methods in harvesting 
nuts to be used for the manufacture of copra or oil 
has already been emphasized. Walker's table on the 
copra and oil content of nuts of different degrees of 
maturity shows the great importance of never using 
any except perfectly ripe nuts for this purpose. If 
immature nuts are used in copra making, the chief loss 
is not so much because less copra or poor copra is obtained 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 191 



from these nuts, but because poor copra mixed with good 
copra lowers the market value of the latter, and so 
keeps the planter from getting its real value even for 
the good copra which he may produce. Another of 
Walker's tables shows that nuts cut from the trees 
increase in yield of copra and oil if allowed to stand 
in piles for some weeks before they are opened. This 
is naturally not to be expected if the nuts are allowed 
to fall from the trees when ripe, and are then collected 
from the ground. In this case they should be used 
without delay. The practice of letting the nuts lie in 
stacks after they are fully ripe is one of the reasons 
given for the lower quality of much Ceylon oil, as 
compared with that from Cochin. At San Eamon, 
where Walker's study was made, the nuts are collected 
regularly once in three months. The nut -gatherers 
have no other profession and are regularly employed 
on this plantation. They must be regarded as expert 
in this business, and they have no inducement to cut 
young nuts. It should therefore be safe to conclude 
that wherever nuts are cut regularly, once in three 
months, the copra will be improved in quantity and 
quality if the nuts are left to ripen or seasoned for a 
time before they are opened. There must be a time 
when each nut is at its best for copra manufacture. 
This time is not sharply marked. At least in dry 
weather, the improvement up to this time is more rapid 
than the deterioration immediately after it, because the 
first changes which take place in germination go on 
very slowly. The best yield from a large pile of nuts 
will therefore be obtained when the majority of the nuts 
are slightly beyond their prime. 

In most countries the first step in copra manufacture 
is the removal of the husks, whether the husk itself has 
any use or not. The only general exception to this 
rule is in the islands of the Pacific, where the commoner 
practice is to split the entire nut, husk and all, with a 
heavy axe. Andes (Kokosbutier, p. 38) describes and 
figures a machine which splits the entire nut into three 



192 THE COCO-NUT chap. 

parts, and with which "bei einiger IJ^ung" two men 
can open 6000 nuts a day. The recent journals mention 
another machine with which a man can husk one hun- 
dred nuts an hour ; but this is no more than an efficient 
labourer does without any machine. Various methods 
of removing the husks have been in use. But the use 
of a sharp iron bar set firmly in the ground or in a 
block, so that it stands with its point aimed directly 
upward a little higher than the worker's knee, has now 
come in fairly general use throughout the tropics. 
Husking a thousand nuts a day may be regarded as 
satisfactory work, and for this a little more than the 
common daily wage is sometimes paid. After the 
removal of the husks, the next step is breaking the nut 
open. The usual and best practice is to do this with 
a sharp blow of a heavy knife so that the two halves 
are as equal as possible. The water inside is spilled as 
the nuts break. Good vinegar can be made from the 
water if a little sugar is added, but the market in coco- 
nut countries does not make this worth while. Care 
should be taken that the water is thoroughly drained out, 
because if any remains it will add to the difficulty of 
drying the copra and will materially injure its quality. 

The methods of drying copra may be classed under 
three heads : sun-drying, grill-drying or smoking, and 
kiln-drying. The first of these is obviously the most 
primitive and the least subject to control. To dry 
copra in the sun requires from four to seven days of 
favourable weather. If there is no rain and the treat- 
ment of the copra is not inexcusably careless, this 
method produces an article of very high quality. It 
is therefore a proper method in places where the planter 
may be sure that there will be no rain during the dry 
seasons. This condition is a rather rare one in the 
tropics. If rain falls while the copra is drying, the 
latter must be protected against it either by bringing 
it within doors or by placing a shelter over it. Either 
of these necessitates having considerable labour avail- 
able for prompt use, and available labour is an expensive 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 198 

luxury. If such care be not taken, or if the rain be 
too sudden to be guarded against, the copra on which 
it falls is permanently damaged. 

The best copra can only be produced by uninterrupted 
drying from the time the nuts are opened until desicca- 
tion is complete. It is especially important that the 
copra become surface-dry as promptly as possible. For 
this reason, where the sun is relied upon, it is good 
practice to open no nuts as late as the middle of the 
day. However dry and regular the climate may be, it 
is usually necessary to shelter the drying copra at night, 
either by bringing it under a roof or by putting one 
over it. If the copra is brought in, its position will 
incidentally be changed as the drying proceeds. When 
the copra has dried sufficiently so that it begins to 
shrink from the shell, it is easy to remove it, and this 
should be done. Even though the work of removing it 
were no consideration, it should not be taken from the 
shell until it is ready to come out easily and whole, 
because good copra is more valuable if marketed in 
large pieces than if broken up. In many places the 
sun is relied upon for the preliminary drying up to the 
time of removal from shell, where the subsequent drying 
is performed on grills or in kilns. In Tahiti, where the 
whole nuts are split, strips are then torn from the husk, 
and by means of these the half-nuts are then hung up, 
face downward, in the sun. In three or four days the 
meat contracts from the shell and falls. It is then 
dried for several days more. Good copra is produced 
in this way ; but the labour required to hang up the 
half- nuts makes the method impracticable on large 
plantations. 

If split nuts are laid out on ordinary ground to dry, 
they are almost certain to get dirty, either in handling 
or from dust blown over them ; if half- dried copra 
without the shell is so treated, there is no chance of 
its drying clean. Specially prepared areas, smooth and 
JLard, whether of cement or not, are used where sun- 
drying is intelligently practised ; these are commonest 

o 



194 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



in lands where such places were first used for coffee or 
cacao. In Cochin the copra is spread on mats to dry, 
and the mats are brought in before showers and at night. 
Care in drying the copra is the chief explanation of the 
high quality of Cochin oil. 

From start to finish sun-drying may take from five 
to nine days. If more time is needed, it takes too 
much work, and the resulting copra is inferior. 

In almost every country which produces copra 
more or less of it is dried over free fires, from which it 
receives the smoke and soot as well as the heat. The 
fuel is almost always the dry part of the nut — husk 
and shell or one alone. The hottest and cleanest fire 
is made by the shells, but these alone are not sufficient 
except when most of the drying is done by the sun. 
Except for the small part marketed as "Cebu sun-dried," 
practically all Philippine copra is dried in this way. 
The drying houses are mere shacks, as cheap as possible. 
Koof and sides are usually made of coco-nut or nipa 
leaves, or the roof may be of bamboo ; corrugated iron 
is unusual, though the owners are seldom too poor to 
afford it. The shacks are usually a scant 2 metres 
high, and just big enough to each handle the nuts from 
a small grove. The fire may be on the ground, but is 
more often in a hole 30 to 60 cm. deep. Over it is a 
grating, usually of coco-nut wood, on which the drying 
is done. Iron in contact with drying copra discolours it ; 
but as smoked copra is never white anyway, the use of 
wood in the grills is a mere matter of local convenience. 
Larger and better smoke houses are sometimes built. 

The procedure in drying varies in different lands, 
and even in different provinces in the Philippines. 
Exceptionally, the drying is uninterrupted. As a rule, 
the half-nuts are first heated until the meat will come 
out of the shell ; this takes two or three hours. The 
meat is then put back on the grill and heated either 
until dry, or on two successive evenings for about two 
hours each, which dries it. The total time of firing is 
then only about six hours. To dry it so rapidly the 




MAGDALENA COPRA DRIER. 



To face page 194. 



IV 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 195 



heat must be sufficient to discolour it, but smoked copra 
is not subject to injury in this way. No effort is made 
to get it drier than is necessary to make it s^l^ble. No 
man who takes pride in his copra, or who sells it on its 
quality, smokes it ; and the man who sells it as mere 
copra, regardless of quality, naturally wants to sell as 
much water as possible. 

While good copra cannot be made by smoking, it is 
the best method of making poor copra. It is cheap, 
simple, and practically independent of the weather. 
From the smoke the copra absorbs creosote or similar 
substances, which act as antiseptics, and tend to prevent 
its decay. Copra made in part of unripe nuts is 
rarely well dried and will not remain so. A variety of 
fermentation takes place in it, making it mouldy and 
rancid. As a result of these changes some of the 
Philippine copra loses as much as one- eighth of its oil 
before it is laid down in Marseilles, and if it were not 
for the sterilizing substances taken up from the smoke 
this loss would be much greater. Smoked copra is the 
most cheaply sacked and shipped, because not injured 
by breaking into small pieces. It is used for candles, 
cheap soaps, etc. , but not for food products nor the finer 
toilet articles. The larger part of the world's copra is 
at present smoked. 

The most uniformly good copra is produced in 
drying houses. This method of preparing it is in 
comparatively recent use, but the product which may 
be grouped as kiln-dried is bound in the near future 
to increase rapidly in amount, and may be expected 
ultimately to become the standard. Kiln-dried copra 
is at present marketed chiefly from Trinidad, the South 
Seas, and Ceylon. Driers built on models developed for 
other products can be and are used for copra. Beside 
these, a variety of houses have been designed especially 
for this use. Any clean method of heating the house is 
effective. But the coco-nut husks must in most places 
serve as fuel, and these produce so much soot that they 
are not suitable for hot-water or steam heating. 

o 2 



196 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



A steam -heated desiccator, notably compact and 
efficient, was exhibited by the Bureau of Agriculture at 
the Philippine Exposition of 1912. It was made of 
two coats of sheet-iron with a middle layer of asbestos. 
Inside are lateral iron rails running at an incline 
from one end to the other, and far enough apart for 
convenience ; down these the trays are slid. A system 
of steam pipes covers the bottom and ventilation is at 
the bottom and top. The whole structure is about 6 
metres long, 3 metres high, and 1|- metres wide. Aside 
from the heating apparatus, it cost about six hundred 
dollars. The copra is first dried in the shell, until it 
will separate from it. The copra from several trays is 
then put on to one, without the shells, and dried for a 
longer time. The capacity is about 1600 lbs. a day. 
The fuel used was coal. In demonstration the drier 
was altogether satisfactory, the only adverse criticism 
being that the planter using it would lose money by 
selling too little water in his copra. 

A tunnel drier devised by a German engineer, but 
not yet tested in practice, is described in a recent 
number of Der Tropenpjlanzer. In principle it is not 
very different from that of the Philippine Bureau of 
Agriculture, which has just been described. 

Three driers, built according to a plan devised by 
Pedro Bonito, have been built in the Province of La 
Laguna to dry copra by means of steam heat. One of 
these, at the town of Magdalena, is illustrated by the 
accompanying photographs. - This machine uses a boiler 
said to be of six English horse-power. For fuel the 
husks and shells of the coco-nuts are used, but only 
husks enough are used to supplement the shells. The 
copra is dried in cases, of which there are three. Each 
of them consists of nine vertical tiers of trays with 
thirteen trays in each tier. Through these cases run 
horizontal pipes, containing steam, under a pressure in 
ordinary practice of 60 lbs. or at a temperature of 
130° C. Both the inventor and the manager state that 
the pressure can be raised to 120 lbs. without risk of 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 197 



injuring the quality of the copra. In drying, the husks 
are first removed and the nuts opened, and the half-nuts 
then placed on the trays and placed in the drier for a 
period of two to four hours. They are then removed 
and the half-dried copra is broken into pieces and dried 
again. The total time of drying is usually about six 
hours. It is practicable to run three charges through 
the apparatus during each twenty-four hours. 

The company which owns the drier owns no coco- 
nut trees, but buys the nuts from the neighbouring 
planters. The nuts are bought by the thousand, and 
the price depends on the price of copra and on the size 
of the nuts. With regard to the size of the nut, no 
discrimination is made between the nuts of different 
planters, but from season to season the copra-producing 
value of nuts varies in response to the climate. Ordin- 
arily one thousand nuts yield about three piculs of 
copra. After a sequence of favourable seasons, more 
than three piculs are produced ; but as a result of 
drought the nuts become much smaller. As a result 
of the drought which ended in June 1912, the nuts 
decreased very much in size during the following months, 
until in January 1913 scarcely more than two piculs 
were produced from one thousand. After this there 
was a gradual recovery. At the time of lowest yield 
copra was high, and seventeen pesos to twenty pesos was 
paid for a thousand nuts, depending on fluctuations in 
the market price of the copra. 

The copra produced by this drier usually sold slightly 
below the price of Cebu sun-dried. For this the drying 
was not responsible, the product being as good as drying 
could make it. The copra lacked something of being- 
first class because the nuts were not all properly 
ripened. Mr. Bonito understood what was needed to 
produce good copra, and let all nuts bought remain in 
piles for two weeks before opening, it being his judg- 
ment that, as they had been harvested, this was the 
period which would produce the best result from the 
local harvest as a whole. The factory is able to produce 



198 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



sixty to seventy piculs of copra a day. It employs 
fourteen persons at a total wage of about twelve pesos a 
day. Husks are removed for sixty centavos a thousand. 
The removal of the meat from the shells and breaking up 
the meat is paid for at the rate of fifty centavos a thousand 
nuts. The factory cost P4000, and when running full 
blast pays a profit of about Pi 00 a day, from which 
the cost of management must be deducted. 

The husks which are not used for fuel are hammered 
by means of a machine operated by the same boiler, and 
the half-cleaned fibre is sold in Manila for use as caulk- 
ing material. Mr. Bonito's statement is that from one 
hundred husks an " aroba " of coir is produced, and that 
this sells in Manila at three pesos an aroba. If this state- 
ment is correct, the receipts for the fibre are in excess 
of the price paid for the nuts. 

The largest copra drier ever built is probably that of 
Antonio Navarro of Pagsanjan, in the Philippine pro- 
vince of La Laguna. The kiln is in effect the basement 
of a one-story building. The excavation is approxi- 
mately 2 metres deep, 5 metres wide, and 15 metres 
long, and has floor and walls of cemented masonry. 
At one end is a very ample fireplace, sunk a little deeper 
still into the ground. The rest of the excavation is 
covered with heavy sheet-iron and serves as a great flue ; 
a pipe leading to the high chimney leaves the end 
opposite the fireplace. The cover of the flue is the floor 
of the drying chamber, which is less than 150 cm. high, 
neatly made of sheet-iron, and with trap-doors in the 
sides and top. The top of the drying chamber is less 
than a metre above the floor of the building, this floor 
being hardly more than a hall- way around the drying 
chamber. The drying chamber is ventilated by means 
of pipes or by the trap-doors. Coco-nut husks and shells 
are used as fuel. According to Mr. Navarro's state- 
ments, the temperature of the kiln is controlled without 
difficulty, and kept at about $5° C. ; the capacity is 
then about fifty piculs (roughly three tons) of copra a 
day ; and the cost of drying is rather less in operation 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 199 



than that of smoke drying. The copra is clean, clear, 
and dry, without the least rancidity after six months in 
the store-house. As the shells are left in the kiln until 
the drying is complete, the copra is all in half-nut 
pieces up to the time they are broken in packing. 
Except for occasional pieces made from unripe nuts — and 
far fewer of these than are usually found in the Laguna 
product — this copra was in a business sense perfect. 

Nevertheless Mr. Navarro has not found it possible 
to operate his drier the most of the time at a profit. 
Because of a practical corner on the local marketing 
facilities held by a leading exporting company, or 
because of his ignorance of the real market, or lack of 
capital, he has been forced to sell his product at the 
price locally paid for the best smoke-cured copra. As 
most planters make their own, and pay practically no 
attention to the cost of drying it, their nuts cannot be 
bought and handled at a profit unless the copra can be 
marketed at a higher price than they could get. Pagsan- 
jan is so situated, at the junction of two rivers flowing 
through a great coco-nut forest, that nuts enough to 
keep this drier busy, seventeen or eighteen thousand a 
day, are easily delivered. Except in such a place, the 
operation of a drier of this size would be impracticable 
for reasons other than inability to sell the product for 
its real value. 

The type of drying house in use by the Deutsche 
Handels- und Plantagen-Gesellschaft in Samoa has been 
described twice in the Beihefte zum Tropenpjlanzer, 
first by Preuss in March 1907. For the sake of clear- 
ness Preuss's figures are copied here. 

The house, the outer walls of which are supported 
by wooden posts set in cement, is set over a smaller 
room of masonry, in which the air is heated. This hot 
room is, in one of the driers described as typical, 5 m. 
long, 2*3 m. wide, and 2*3 m. high. Set into the wall 
at the middle of one end is the fireplace. A flue of stone 
runs from the fireplace obliquely well toward the other 
end of the room. It is there connected by a vertical 



200 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



piece of tubing with a horizontal system of sheet-iron 
flues, consisting of two or three lengthwise sections (two 
in the figure) and the necessary crosswise connections. 
The iron flues are 30 cm. in diameter, made locally from 




1 1 m n i ; i i ! § i n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 



Ground Plan. 




Section. 

A, Fireplace. B, Masonry flue. C, Connection of masonry and iron flues. 
D, Iron flue. E, Wall of stone. F, Smoke stack. 

sheets. The ends project beyond the walls, and can be 
opened when the pipes need cleaning. The last flue 
ends in a chimney 12 m. high. The course of the 
smoke is indicated by arrows. 

The drying-room proper is directly over the heating 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 201 



room and very little larger, and the floor between them 
is merely a grating. In operation the drying-room is 
filled with trays of copra, each holding about 6 lbs. 
Different driers have a capacity of 200 to 394 trays. 
The local custom is said to be to remove the copra from 
the shell without any preliminary drying, which is 
laborious and inevitably involves breaking it into small 
pieces. Assuming a yield of two tons a year per hec- 
tare, a drier then will take care of the yield of 150 
hectares. How large an area can well be made tributary 
to one drier depends of course on the means and cost of 
transporting the nuts, as well as on other local condi- 
tions. In German New Guinea and the Bismarck 
Archipelago a drier is built for eachJiectareJ- Preuss 
states that one of them will dry 1700 lbs. of copra 
in twenty-four hours or about 300 tons a year. The 
temperature is kept near 50° C. When the copra is 
taken from the drying chamber, it is spread over the 
floor of the building to cool and to dry a little more 
perfectly. Unless the drying is finished in this way, 
the copra is said to mould ; but with proper treatment 
the product is of excellent quality. One of these drying 
houses costs 1500 to 1750 dollars. 



COCO-NUT OIL 




The manufacture of coco-nut oil as an article of 
world commerce is not a plantation business. The 
copra of commerce is the raw material for this business, 
and the extraction of the oil is carried on very largely 
in temperate countries, especially in France. For a 
considerable time there have been a few well-equipped 
factories at work in Ceylon, and individual establish- 
ments have been set up in other tropical countries. Oil, 
as an article of home consumption or of local commerce, 
is extracted in all coco-nut countries, and may or may 
not be a plantation product. It is only as it may be 
a plantation industry that the extraction of the oil 
requires explanation here. 



202 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



The methods by which the oil of the coco-nut is 
extracted fall conveniently under three heads : First, 
methods involving no special apparatus, but consisting 
in the mere maceration of the endosperm and squeezing 
out as much of the oil as can conveniently be ex- 
pressed ; second, more complicated methods characteristic 
of single regions where they have been locally developed ; 
and third, factory production by modern methods. 

By the first of these general methods oil is practically 
produced only for purely local consumption and in 
very small quantities. In such cases the oil may be 
produced without heating, or its separation may be 
facilitated by heating ; and the same is true of its 
separation from the liquid mass squeezed out of the 
pulp. A very high quality of oil is likely to be secured 
in this manner, and it is not unusual in coco-nut 
countries, at least throughout the Orient, for people to 
prepare oil in this way for their own use and to prepare 
other oil for sale. 

Of the second general method or group of methods, 
there are three modifications in wide enough use to 
merit mention. In Java the coco-nut oil is extracted 
by the same apparatus used for extracting the oil of pea- 
nuts. This is not as good a method in any respect as 
that used in the Philippines or Ceylon. It consists in 
placing two heavy planks in a framework which holds 
their lower edges together but lets the upper edges 
spread apart so as to form a trough. This trough is 
lined with carabao hides, and inside these are placed 
strong bags or sacks containing the pulp made by 
grinding or scraping the coco-nut meat. Wooden 
wedges are then driven between the outer parts of the 
planks forming the trough and a rigid structure outside 
them. As the wedges are driven deeper the trough is 
narrowed, and the sacks are squeezed, with the result 
that the oil is forced out of them. The pulp is after- 
ward heated again with additional water and the 
squeezing is repeated. 

In Ceylon and in the neighbouring parts of India a 




ILOHAN, OR ROCKING CRUSHER, LA LACUNA. 

To face page 202. 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 203 



peculiar form of oil mill, known as the " chekku," is in 
general use ; and in these countries, especially in 
Ceylon, the manufacture of oil by this method has 
grown into an industry of such importance that the 
produce is an important article of export. The chekku 
is a mortar of stone or very hard wood which is anchored 
with all possible firmness in its place. It stands above 
the ground to a height of about a metre. The upper end 
is hollowed out in such a way that the hollow has the 
shape of an hour-glass, the lower enlargement being 
about half as long as the upper. In this mortar is a 
pestle, usually of hard wood, sometimes of iron, about 
140 cm. in length. This mortar fits at the top into the 
upper end of a piece of wood which is connected with 
a long tongue, one end of which is fitted to a groove in 
the bottom of the mortar on the outside near the ground, 
and the other end is turned by cattle, round and round. 
The weight of the tongue and of a driver who sits on it 
is accordingly drawn with the action of a lever, pulling 
down the upper end of the pestle. At each revolution 
the pestle goes around in the mortar and at the same 
time rotates on its own axis. 

The chekku takes a load of about 16 or 17 kilograms 
of copra. It will take six charges a day, using a total 
of 100 kilograms of copra ; from this 60 kilograms of 
oil are produced, leaving 40 kilograms of oil cake. 
The most of the oil produced in this way is of poor 
quality ; but there is no reason why, if sufficient care 
were taken to keep the copra, apparatus, and oil free 
from dust, the oil should not be of very high grade. 
These chekkus are used singly or in groups, sometimes 
of as many as twenty in a single factory. The number 
in use in Ceylon in 1897 was said to be more than 2800. 
With the increase in number of modern factories the 
number of chekkus has since decreased greatly. 

In the Philippines there are a number of methods 
of extracting oil, of which only the commonest is in 
wide enough use to merit description. The first steps 
are the removal of the husk and the breaking of the 



204 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



nut into two halves. The meat is then immediately 
rasped out of the half-nuts. This is done by means of 
an instrument known as " kabyawan." This kabyawan 
is a convex iron burr mounted on the end of an axis 
around which a cord is wound several times and runs 
down at each end to a pedal. The burr bears teeth all 
over its surface. The operator sits in such a position 
that his feet will conveniently work the pedals, pushing 
them down alternately and so whirling the axis and 
burr. The burr is pointed away from him so that when 
he takes a half-nut in his hands and draws it against 
the burr he can watch the removal of the meat. The 
apparatus makes an exceedingly effective rasp for the use 
of human power. In ordinary practice the meat is re- 
moved from a nut in about thirty seconds. Kasping a 
thousand nuts is regarded as more than a day's work 
except when the work is paid by the unit instead of by 
time. T\e grated meat falls into a receptacle under 
the burr, and is then put into a cauldron, such as is 
used locally for boiling sugar, and heated to the boiling 
point of water. 

The pulp is then placed in sacks made of rattan, 
and compressed between two heavy planks. The sacks 
are usually about 45 cm. wide and 60 cm. long. The 
plank press is called an " ipitan." The tightening 
is by one or two screws about 10 cm. in diameter 
which are set into the back plank, pass through the 
front plank in an open hole, and outside it bear| a 
very heavy block of wood which runs on the thread 
of the screw. By means of this block great pressure 
can be applied to the front plank. Although made 
entirely of wood, the press is quite durable and capable 
of exerting very great pressure. The sap squeezed out 
usually falls directly into a large wooden bowl placed 
underneath, or may be collected by a trough. At the 
first pressing from one-fourth to one-third of the oil is 
obtained. This oil is of superior quality and finds use 
as a cosmetic or food. The cake then stands until 
fermentation begins, and is then ground with stone or 



COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 205 



wooden grinders and repressed from three to six times. 
The grinding and pressing are often done at once by a 
very heavy rocking crib called an "ilohan." The oil 
obtained after fermentation is inferior, and is used for 
illumination or to make soap. 

The figures given by the men running these oil 
mills vary too widely to be worth publishing, and no 
careful study of the business has ever been made. The 
same men who have oil mills practically always have 
also grills for drying copra, and the amount of each 
product which they prepare varies with the fluctuations 
in the market. As a general rule, most of the produce 
of plantations having access to cheap transportation is 
sold as copra, while a comparatively large amount of 
oil is produced on plantations remote from railroads or 
good roads. 

Not much of this oil is exported, but as an article of 
domestic commerce it is decidedly important. The town 
of Nagkarlan is crossed by the railroad in its lower part, 
but the upper and larger part of the municipality can 
market its produce only over poor trails. The municipal 
statistics for the three months ending in September 1912 
show 505,381 trees in this town. The reported harvest 
was 6,272,453 nuts for the three months. From this 
there were made 404,600 kilos of copra and 499,302 
litres of oil. The copra was valued at 13 centavos a 
kilo, and the oil at 35 centavos a litre. The oil produce 
of the town was therefore worth more than £6000 a 
month. Practically all of this has to be packed to the 
railroad on the backs of horses. 

In the modern oil factories the extraction of the oil 
involves two essential phases : first, the maceration of 
the copra, and second, the separation of the oil. The 
maceration is very perfect, consisting of grating or 
scraping and then of very thorough grinding. The oil 
is extracted by means of large and powerful hydraulic 
press**^. In some cases there is first a cold pressure to 
produce oil of the best quality, and afterward a pressure 
after treatment with hot water or steam ; or the pulp 



206 THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. VI 



may be squeezed both times after a preliminary beating 
to facilitate the removal of the oil. Oil expressed cold 
is as a rule of better quality, and oil destined for use 
as food is usually secured in this manner. After the oil 
is expressed it is permitted to separate by standing. 
The upper layers, usually cold enough to be solid in 
consistency, are then removed, and the residue is again 
treated to secure the remaining oil of poorer quality. 
The best mills in Europe sometimes succeed in 
extracting more than 70 per cent of oil from the 
copra used. This demands not merely very complete 
extraction but also that the copra used should have 
contained very little water. With most of the copra 
marketed it is impossible by the most perfect treatment 
to secure more than 65 to 67 per cent of oil. 



INDEX 



Africa — 

Copra production, 111 

Rhynchophorus phoenicis, 76, 85 
Africa, East — 

Bats, 106 

Bud rot, 47 
Africa, West, — Harvesting methods, 
168 

Albay — Lono nut, 115 
"All about the Coco-nut," 43 
America — 
Bud rot, 52 
Insect pests — 

Metamasius hemipterus, 87 
Rhina barberostris, 87 
Rhynchophorus palmarum, 76, 84, 
85 

Andes — Copra manufacture, 191 
Ants (See also Termites) 

Azteca chartifex, 101 
Arrack— Yield, etc., 179-181 

Bachoffen — Chemical composition of 

San Ramon nuts, 155, 156 
Banahao, Mount — 
Bud rot, 47 

Climate and soil, 21, 27 
Banajao, Mount, — Harvesting methods, 

167 
Bancroft — 
Bud rot, 61 
Fungi disease, 42 
Banks — 

Insect pests — 

Cyrtotrachelus, 86 
Oryctes rhinoceros, 64, 67 
Rhynchophorus, 76, 78 
Moths and butterflies — 
Padraona chrysozona, 95 
Barrett — 

Insect pests — 

Melitomma insularis, 90 
Scapanes auslralis, 90 
Bats, 105 
Bears, 106 

Bernard — Fungi disease, 37 



Birds, 105 

Bismarck Archipelago (See also names 
of places) 
Copra manufacture, 201 
Fungi disease — Pestalozzia pal- 
marum, 39 
Bohol — San Ramon nut, 110 
Bonito, Pedro, — Copra driers invented 

by, 196-198 
Burkill — Oryctes rhinoceros in Samoa, 

73, 75 
Busck — 
Bud rot, 52 
Strategus titanus, 88 
Butler- 
Bud rot, 44 
Fungi disease, 41 

Carey, E.V., — Rhinoceros beetle, 66 
Caroline Islands — 

Aspidiotus destructor, 99 
Coir, 182 
Ceylon — 

Climate and soil, 21, 22, 23, 28 
Coco-nut oil manufacture, 201, 202 
Coir industry, 182, 186, 188 
Copra manufacture, 191, 195 
Diseases, 33 
Bud rot, 43, 46 
Thielaviopsis ethacetica, 35 
Field culture — 

Cultivation of young groves, 137 
Fertilizers, 157 
Harvesting methods, 168 
Preparation of land, 125, 127 
Transplanting, 131, 134 
Land and labour, cost of, 151 
Pests- 
Coffee rust, 34 
Insects — 

Oryctes rhinoceros, 68 
Rhynchophorus, 81, 83 
Omiodes blackburni moth, 97 
Rats, 106 
Seed germination — Jaffna method, 
122 



207 



208 



THE COCO-NUT 



Ceylon — continued — 

Toddy — Method of obtaining, etc., 

171, 172, 173, 174, 179 
Varieties, 109 
Jaffna, 112 
Laguna, 111 
San Ramon, 110 
Chemical composition of coco-nuts — 

Tables, 154-156 
Climate, 19-25 
Cochin — 

Coir industry, 186 
Copra manufacture, 191, 194 
Coco-nut cake — Chemical composition 
of, 156 

"Coco-nut Planter's Manual," 79 
Coco-nut Trees Preservation Ordinance, 
68 

Coert, Jb. — 

Amathusia phidippus, 96 

Preparation of land, 127 
Coffee rust pest, 33, 34 
Coir, 114, 182-190, 198 
Copra — 

Average amount of production from 

nuts, 110, 111, 113 
Chemical composition, 156 
Manufacture, etc., 190-201 
Cradwick — Bud rot, 56 
Cuba — 
Diseases — 

Bud rot, 52-56, 81 

Pesialozzia palmarum, 38 
Insect pests — 

Rhynchophorus palmarum, 81 

Scolytidae, 90 
Lady-birds, 100 

Dapitan — San Ramon nut, 110 

Deli, Sumatra — Effect of humidity on 

coco-nut culture, 24 
Demerara — 
Bud rot, 52 
Passalus tridens, 90 
Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen- 
Gesellschaft — Copra drying house, 
199-201 
Diseases, 31-63 

Bud rot, 33, 42, 43-63 
Constitutional weakness, 31 
Fungi, 34-43, 55 
JBotryodiplodia, 40 
Diplodia — 

D. cacaoicola, 41 
D. epicocos, 42 
Fomes, 35 

Helminthosporium incurvatum, 38 
Pesialozzia palmarum, 36, 55 
Thielaviopsis ethacetica, 35 

T. paradoxa, 36 
Thyridaria tarda, 42 



Doane — Insect pests — 
Calandra taitensis, 88 
Sphenophorus obscurus, 87, 88 

Dutch Indies — Use of trained monkeys 
for harvesting, 169 

Earle— Bud rot, 52 

Fawcett— Bud rot, 56 

Ferguson — "Coco-nut Planter's 

Manual," 79 
Fibres — Coir compared with other 

kinds, Tables, etc., 182-184 
Field culture, 123-169 

Care of adult groves, 144-150 

Cultivation of young groves, 135-144 

Fertilizers, 150-164 

Harvesting methods, etc., 164-169 

Preparation of land, 123-130 

Transplanting, 130-135 
Florida — Latitude of bearing trees, 21 
Foxworthy, Dr. — Use' of trained 

monkeys for harvesting, 169 
France — Coco-nut oil'manufacture, 201 
Fredholm— Bud rot, 56-60 
Friederichs — Oryctes rhinoceros in 

Samoa, 73, 74 
Froggatt — Insect pests— 

Calandra taitensis, 88 

Chalcosoma atlas, 90 

Eurytrachelus pilosipes, 90 

Graeffea cocophaga, 98 

Sphophorus obscurus, 87 

Trichogomphus semilinki, 89 

Xylotrupes lorquini, 89 

German Potash Syndicate, 157 

Gibbs— Toddy- 
Arrack, yield, etc., Tables, 179-181 
Composition of sap — Tables, 175- 
177 

Yield of sap, 174 
Godaveri River — Bud rot, 43, 44 
Grand Cayman — Bud rot, 52 
Green, E. E. — Rhynchophorus, 78, 81, 
83 

Greig, W.— Bud rot, 60 
Guiana, British — 

Fungi disease, 36, 42 

Strategus anchoreta, 88 
Guiana, Dutch — Rainfall, 22 

Hart— Fungi disease, 41 
Hawaii — 

Insect pest — Sphcnophorus obscurus, 
86 

Omiodes blackburni moth, 97 
Hervey Island — 

Insect pest — Graeffea cocophaga, 98 
Hogs, 106 

Honduras — Bud rot, 52 



INDEX 



209 



Horne — 

Bud rot, 53 

Fungi disease, 38 
Hoyer — Coir manufacture, 189 
Hubert — Varieties, 109 

India (See also names of places) — 
Climate and soil, 21, 28 
Coco-nut oil, 202 
Coir, 189 
Diseases, 33 
Bud rot, 43 

Fungi — Thielaviopsis ethacetica, 
36 

Harvesting methods, 168 

Moths and butterflies — Amathusia 

phidippits, 96 
Preparation of land, 127 
Eats, 106 
Toddy- 
Method of obtaining, etc., 171, 172 
Sugar made from, 179 
Varieties, 109, 112 
Indo-China — Coir, 190 
Insects (See Pests) 

Jaggery, 113, 179 

Jamaica — Altitude of bearing trees, 21 
Java (See also names of places) — 
Altitude of bearing trees, 21 
Climate and soil, 22, 28 
Coco-nut oil manufacture, 202 
Coir, 189 
Diseases — 

Bud rot, 52, 56 
Fungi 

Pestalozzia palmarum, 36, 38 
Thielaviopsis ethacetica, 36 
Insect pests — 

Bronthispa froggatti, 92 

Xylotrupes gideon, 89 
Preparation of land, 128 
Toddy- 
Method of obtaining, etc., 171, 172 

Sugar made from, 179 

Uses of, 178 

Yield of sap, 174 
Varieties, 109 

Kalapa Babi, 112 

Kalapa Tebu, 115 
Johnston, John R. — Bud rot, 53, 55, 

60, 62 

Jones — Promecotheca cumingii, 93 
Jumelle — Varieties, 109 

Kolaba— Toddy, 174 
Konigsberger — Pests — 
Bronthispa, froggatti, 92 
Moths and butterflies — 
Brachartona cdtoxantha, 94 
Hidari iraioa, 95 



La Union — 
Varieties — 

Lupisan, 115 

Tataguden, 115 

Tutupaen, 115 
Laccadive Islands — Coir, 114, 186 
Lady-birds, 100 

Laguna, La (See also names of places) 
Bud rot, 47-52, 71 
Toddy— Yield of sap, 175 
Varieties — 
Laguna, 111 
Makapuno, 114 
Maiigipod, 112 
Leaf, the, 7-18 

Lecomte — Fibres — Comparative tables, 

183 
Lepine — 

Chemical composition of San Ramon 
nuts, 155, 156 
Luzon — 

Bud rot, 33, 43, 47 
Climate and soil, 21, 28 
Harvesting methods, 169 
San Ramon nut, 110 

Macke — Aleyrodicus destructor, 102 
Macrae — Fungi disease, 45 
Madagascar — 

Harvesting methods, 168 
Latitude of bearing trees, 21 
Melilomma insularis, 90 
Varieties, 109 
Magdalena — Copra driers, 196 
Malay Peninsula — Cultivation of 

young groves, 142 
Malay States 

Fungi disease — Diplodia, 42 
Pests 

Bears, 106 
Insects — 

Oryctes rhinoceros, 68, 70 
Moths and butterflies — 
Brachartona, 95 
Erionota thrax, 96 
Padraona, 96 
Thosea, 96 
Malaya — 

Altitude of bearing trees, 21 
Preparation of land, 124 
San Ramon nut, 110 
Toddy- 
Method of obtaining, etc.. 
172 

Sugar made from, 179 
Maldive Islands — Coir, 114, 186 
Manila — Thosea cinereomarginata 

moth, 96 
Marianne Islands — Coir, 182 
Marinduque — Varieties, 110, 115 
Marshall Islands— Rainfall, 23 



210 



THE COCO-NUT 



Mindanao (See also names of places) 
Climate and soil, 21, 29 
Cultivation of young groves, 137 
Cuyamis nut, 115 

Molisch— Toddy, 174 

Monkeys — 

Damage done by, 107 
Use of, for harvesting, 169 

Morstatt — Oryctes rhinoceros, 64 

Moths and butterflies (See Pests) 

Navarro, Antonio — Copra drier in- 
vented by, 198 

New Britain — Bronthispa froggatti, 91 

New Guinea — 
Insect pests — 

Camelonotus quadrituber, 90 
Oryctoderes latitarsis, 90 
Pimelopus, 90 

Proinecotheca antiqua, 93, 94 
Scapanes, 90 

Sphenophorus obscurus, 86 
Xylotrupes lorquini, 89 
Omiodes blackburni moth, 97 

New Guinea (German) — Copra manu- 
facture, 201 

New Hebrides — Proinecotheca opici- 
collis, 93 

New South Wales — Graeffea cocopliaga, 
98 

Noumea — Varieties, 109 

Oil manufactured from coco-nuts, 201- 
206 

Pagsanjan — Copra manufacture, 198 
Panama — Insect pest — Brassolis 

isthmia, 96 
Pangasinan — Taban nut, 115 
Patouillard — Fungi disease, 40 
Penang — Preparation of land, 127 
Pests, 63-107 

Bats, 105 

Bears, 106 

Birds, 105 

Coffee rust pest, 33, 34 
Hogs, 106 
Insects — 

Aleyrodicus cocois, 102 

A. destructor, 102 
Aspidiotus destructor, 98 

A. vastatrix, 101 
Bronthispa froggatti, 91, 94 
Calandra taitensis, 88 
Camelonotus quadrituber, 90 
Chalcosoma atlas, 90 
Cyrtotrachelus, 86 

4 spotted c. weevil, 86 

Shot-hole c. weevil, 86 
Eurytrachelus pilosipes, 90 

E. intermedius, 90 
Graeffea cocophaga, 98 



Pests — continued — 
Insects — continued — 
Locusts, 98 

Melitomma insularis, 90 
Metamasius hemipterus, 87 

M. cinnamominus, 87 

M. rhabdobaenus, 87 
Oryctes rhinoceros, 63-75, 80, 83 

0. anglias, 64 

O. boas, 64 

O. colonicus, 64 

0. cristatus, 64 

O. insularis, 64 

O. monoceros, 64 

O. preussi, 64 

O. pyrrhus, 64 

O. ranavalo, 64 

O. sinnar, 64 
Oryctoderes latitarsis, 90 
Oxycephala froggatti, 94 
Passalus tridens, 90 
Pimelopus, 90 
Promecotlieca cumingii, 93 

P. antiqua, 93, 94 

P. opicicollis, 93, 94 
Rhina barbirostris, 87 
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, 63, 65, 
67 

R. palmarum, 76, 81, 84, 85, 87 

R. phoenicis, 76, 86 
Scapanes, 90 

S. australis, 90 

S. grossepunctatus, 90 
Scolytidae, 90 

Sphenophorus obscurus, 86, 88 

Strategus titanus, 88 
S. anachoreta, 88 

Table, 103-104 

Termites, 102, 126 

Trichogomphus semilinki, 89 

Weevils, 25, 76 (See also Rhyn- 
chophorus — this heading) 

Xylotrupes gideon, 89 
X. lorquini, 89 
X. nimrod, 89 
Monkeys, 107 
Moths and Butterflies — 

Amathusia phidippus, 96 

Brachartona catoxantha, 94 

Brassolis isthmia, 96 
B. sophorae, 97 

Erionota thrax, 96 

Ridari irawa, 95 

Hyperchiria, 97 

Omiodes blackburni, 97 

Padraona chrysozona, 95, 96 

Thosea cinereomarginata, 96 
Porcupines, 106 
Rats, 106 
Robber crab, 105 
Snakes, 105 



INDEX 



211 



Petch— 

Bud rot, 46 

Fungi disease, 35 
Philippines (See also names of places) 

Coco-nut oil manufacture, 202, 203 

Coir, 189 

Copra manufacture, 194, 196 
Diseases — 

Bud rot, 47 

Fungi, 42 
Field culture — 

Cultivation of young groves, 140, 
142 

Preparation of land, 125, 127 
Lady-birds, 100 
Land and labour, cost of, 151 
Pests— 

Amaihusia phidippus butterfly, 96 
Insects — 
Aleyrodicus destructor, 102 
Promecotheca cumingii, 93 
Bhynchophorus ferrugineus, 76 
Scapanes australis, 90 
Xylotrupes gideon, 89 
Toddy- 
Method of obtaining, etc,, 171, 172, 

173, 174 
Uses of, etc., 178 
Yield of sap, 174 
Typhoons— Effect on trees, 24 
Varieties, 109, 110, 112 
Coco nino, 113 
Makapuno, 114 
Physiology of the coco-nut, 1-18 
Polynesia — 

Altitude of bearing trees, 21 
Coir, 182 
Pests — 
Birds, 105 
Insects — 

Aspidiotus destructor, 101 
Graeffea cocophaga, 98 
Robber crab, 105 
Preparation of land, 128 
San Ramon nut, 110 
Toddy — Sugar made from, 179 
Porcupines, 106 

Portuguese East Africa — Bud rot, 43 
Preuss — 

Bronthispa froggatti, 92, 94 

Fungi disease, 39 

Omiodes blaclcburni, 97 
Products, 113, 170-206 

Coco-nut oil, 201-206 

Coir, 114, 182-190, 198 

Copra (See that title) 

Jaggery, 113, 179 

Toddy (See that title) 
Prudhomme — 

Diseases, 33 

Fertilizers, 150 



Prudhomme — continued — 
Harvesting methods, 168 
Preparation of land, 127 
Transplanting, 132 
Varieties, 109 

Ratnagire— Toddy, 174 
Rats, 106 

Red beetle (See Pests — Bhynchophorus 

ferrugineus) 
Rhinoceros beetle (See Pests — Oryctes 

rhinoceros) 
Ridley— Field culture, 29 
Robber crab, 105 
Root, the, 1-7 
Rorer — 

Bud rot, 60, 61 

Fungi disease, 36 

Samoa — 

Coir industry, 186 

Copra manufacture, 199-201 

Insect pests — 

Graeffea cocophaga, 98 
Oryctes rhinoceros, 73 

Laguna nut, 111 
San Cristobal — Bud rot, 47 
San Ramon — 

Preparation of land, 128 

San Ramon nut — 

Chemical composition, etc., — 

Tables, 155, 165 
Copra production, etc., 110 

Transplanting, 133 

Varieties, 109, 110 
Sanson — Analysis of coco-nut cake, 156 
Sarawak — Use of trained monkeys for 

harvesting, 169 
Schultz — Brassolis isthmia, 96 
Schwartz — Pests, 100 
Seay, J. T. — Bhynchophorus, 84 
Seed- 
Germination, 118-122 

Selection of, 108-122 
Semler — Preparation of land, 127 
Seychelles, The — 

Rainfall, 22 

Varieties, 109 
Shortt— Varieties, 109 
Simmonds — 

Transplanting, 131 

Varieties, 109 
Palamcotta, 115 
Singapore — 

"Bulletin of the Botanic Gardens," 73 

Climate and soil, 29 

Oryctes rhinoceros, 73 
Smith, Dr. Erwin — Bud rot, 52 
Snakes, 105 

Society Islands — Calandra taitensis, 88 
Soil, 25-30 



212 



THE COCO-NUT 



Solomon Islands — 
Insect pests — 
Bronthispa froggatti, 91, 92 
Eurytrachelus pilosipes, 90 
Trichogomphus semilinlci, 89 
Xylotrupes gideon, 89 
South Seas — Copra manufacture, 195 
Stockdale — 
Bud rot, 57, 61 
Fungi disease, 38, 40 
Straits Settlements — 

Coco-nut Trees Preservation Ordin- 
ance, 68 
Oryctes rhinoceros, 68 
Sugar made from toddy, 178 
Sumatra — Sugar made from toddy, 179 

Tahiti — Copra manufacture, 193 

Tamatave — Transplanting, 132 

Termites, 102, 126 

Toddy, 170-182 

Arrack, yield, etc., 179-181 
Composition of sap — Tables, 175-177 
Source of, and method of obtaining, 
170 

Sugar made from, 178 
Uses of, etc., 177 
Vinegar made from, 181 
Yield of sap, 174 
Travancore — 
Bud rot, 43 

Fungi disease — Botryodiplodia, 41 
Varieties, 109 
Trinidad- 
Ants — Aztcca chartifex, 101 
Climate, 23 

Copra production and manufacture, 

111, 195 
Diseases. 33 

Bud rot, 42, 56 

Pcstalozzia palmarum, 38 
Field culture — 

Preparation of land, 127 

Transplanting, 132 
Insect pests — 

Aspidiotus destructor, 101 

Rhina barbirostris, 88 

Rhynchophorus, 84 

Strategus anachoreta, 88 
Sale methods, 114 
"Trinidad Bulletin of Miscellaneous 

Information," 84 
Typhoons — Effect on trees, 24 

Urich — Insect pests — 

RMna barbirostris, 88 
Rhynchophorus palmarum, 85 
Van Oijen — Preparation of land, 128 
Vanderstraaten — Climate, 19 



Varieties, 108-116 

Agta, 115 

Bulao, 115 

Burawis, 115 

Busag, 115 

Coco niho, 111, 113 

Cuyamis, 115, 116 

Dahili, 112, 116 

Inano, 116 

Jaffna, 112 

Kalapa Babi, 112 

Kalapa Tebu, 115 

Laguna, 111 

Lincoranay, 116 

Lono, 115, 116 

Lupisan, 115 

Makapuno, 114, 115 

Mangipod, 112 

Pugai or Piligpog, 112, 116 

San Ramon, 110 

Taban, 115 

Tataguden, 115 

Tutupaen, 115 
Vinegar made from toddy, 181 
Visayan Islands — 

Soil and location, 24 

Varieties, 112, 115 
Vitilevu — Fungi disease, 42 
Vlaanderen — Coir manufacture, 189 
Vosseler — 

Insect pests — 

Oryctes rhinoceros, 64, 65 
Rhynchophorus, 78, 80, 85 

Walker- 
Copra, 190, 191 

San Ramon nuts — Analyses, 155 

Varieties, 109 
"Watt 

Toddy— Yield of sap, 174 

Transplanting, 131 

Varieties, 109 
Welborn— Uses of toddy, 178 
West Indies (See also names of places) 

Bats, 106 

Bud rot, 33, 43 

Fungi disease, 36 

Insect pests — 

Aleyrodicus cocois, 102 
Rhynchophorus palmarum, 76 
Wood, Orville, — Cultivation of young 
groves, 137 

Zambales — Pugai nut, 112 
Zamboanga — 

Climate and soil, 23, 26 

Coco nino nut, 111 
Zanzibar — 

Preparation of land, 127 

Rainfall, 22 



P?-inted by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinl<urgh. 



WORKS ON 

TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



COCOA. By Dr. C. J. J. VAN Hall, Chief of the 
Botanical Laboratories, Buitenzorg, Java. Illus- 
trated. 8vo. {Autumn, 19 14. 

Dr. Van Hall intends his book to play a supplementary part 
in the education of the cocoa-planter, supplying the information 
which is not to be acquired by practical work in the field. The 
eleven chapters are headed respectively : Historical; Geographical 
Distribution and Climatic Conditions ; The Chemistry of Cocoa 
and Cocoa Soils ; The Botanical Characteristics of the Cocoa 
Plant ; Varieties of Cocoa ; The Cultivation of Cocoa ; Ferment- 
ation, Washing and Drying ; Diseases and Enemies ; Cocoa- 
Growing Countries ; Commerce of Cocoa ; and Notes on Cocoa 
and Chocolate Industry. 



SPICES. By Henry N. Ridley, C.M.G., F.R.S. 
Illustrated. 8vo. 8s. 6d. net. 

NATURE. — " A book of this kind must appeal mainly to planters 
in the tropics, and Mr. Ridley's extensive experience of the needs of 
this class of readers has enabled him to produce a volume which 
is a valuable addition to the rather scanty literature of tropical 
agriculture." 

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST.—" Fascinating reading as 
well as valuable information for those engaged in the cultivation of 
spices are furnished by Mr. Ridley's work." 

ECONOMIST. — " Mr. Ridley's book, besides giving a great deal 
of interesting historical information, contains much valuable technical 
and statistical matter, which render it of great use both to the planter 
of spices and to the student of commerce." 



LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. 
1 



WORKS ON 

TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



THE COTTON PLANT IN EGYPT: Studies 
in Physiology and Genetics. By W. Lawrence 
Balls, M.A. Illustrated. 8vo. 5s. net. 

NATURE. — "There can be no doubt of the freshness and 
originality of mind with which Mr. Balls has attacked a great diversity 
of problems in their application to the cotton plant. Some of these 
questions are genetic, some pathological, some physiological in the 
stricter sense, and most of them involve considerations of direct 
economic importance. Starting with the intention of improving the 
Egyptian cotton crop, the author found himself led on from one 
problem to another, and to the solution of each he makes a real 
contribution, often approaching to the dignity of discovery." 

JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BIOLOGY.— ■« A most interest- 
ing volume, full of important results." 

THE DISEASES OF TROPICAL PLANTS. 

By Prof. M. T. COOK, Ph.D. Illustrated. 8vo. 
8s. 6d. net. 

TROPICAL LIFE.—" This is a book the appearance of which 
we greet with the greatest pleasure. We are told you can have too 
much even of a good thing. Plant-diseases are not a good thing, but 
a very bad one, so we may be excused for saying that no one can 
have too much information about them, and although the amount that 
has been crowded in this book is marvellous, yet we only regret that 
there is not still more." 

JOURNAL OF BOTANY. — "The illustrations are abundant 
and instructive, and the book will doubtless be of great value to the 
agriculturist in the tropics." 

SYLVICULTURE IN THE TROPICS. By 

A. F. Broun. Illustrated. 8vo. 8s. 6d. net. 

NATURE. — "The book is very well printed, illustrated, and 
bound, and it contains a large amount of valuable and most interest- 
ing information which should make it a useful guide to foresters, 
especially in those countries which are chiefly referred to." 

BULLETIN OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE.— "This 
book should prove of much value to foresters and botanists in the 
tropics." 



LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. 

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